Grayson County Purchase Signals More Hwy 75 Development

Another master-planned community is in the pipeline for Dallas’ far north development corridor.

The Cherukuru Investments, owned by Westlake investor Ravi Cherukuru, bought a 180-acre tract on the northeast corner of FM 902 and Bennett Road in Howe, a town on Hwy 75 in Grayson County, which abuts Oklahoma. The price is undisclosed, but Cherukuru plans to develop the site into a mixed-use retail and residential community, according to a press release issued May 19 by Younger Partners, which brokered the deal.

The Hightower Family Trust sold the land, public records show. The Hightower family has owned the land for 140 years, according to Younger Partners. John St. Clair and Ethan Peck represented the seller in the transaction.

The unimproved tract is outside Howe city limits but within the Howe Independent School District. Downtown McKinney is about 23 miles south of the site, and Downtown Dallas is about 58 miles away.

Greenfield sites along the Hwy 75 corridor have undergone meteoric appreciation in the last few years. Grayson County appraises the value of the land for tax purposes at $3.8 million, double its appraisal value of $1.9 million in 2022. Developers that preceded Cherukuru in Howe include Mehrdad Moayedi, CEO of Farmers Branch-based Centurion American, which began developing a master-planned community named Cottonwood near Howe in 2023.

Cherukuru filed a petition on April 28 to create a municipal utility district for the development, county records show.

Last year, Cherukuru bought 140 acres south on Bennett Road, just across from the Cornerstone Ranch development by Texas Southern Homes. His firm also owns acreage in Van Zandt County and Kaufman County, according to public records.Howe is 11 miles south of Sherman, which in turn is just 21 miles south of Oklahoma. Commercial development in the area includes Texas Instruments’ semiconductor facility expansion, a $30 billion project that’s already attracting residential investment throughout Grayson County.