Megatel expands lagoon development in DFW’s “Golden Corridor”

As Megatel Homes moves forward with the second of eight phases of its $1 billion AnaCapri project in Anna, it joins a land rush of developers betting they can turn a once-quiet band of farms and suburbs into a frontier of real estate gold.

The region between the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Sherman has exploded following a series of large manufacturing investments. In turn, Megatel and others face stiff competition for buyers in what has become Texas’ fastest-growing region.

Megatel started construction on the first phase of about 1,200 single-family homes and 600 multifamily units centered around the lagoon in April. It plans to add 250 homes in the second phase, bringing the project closer to the development’s eventual total of about 2,000 residential units, Megatel co-founder Zach Ipour said. The project is slated to be completed by the end of 2029.

Amenities like a huge lagoon with a 60-foot-tall water slide and wave pool — centerpieces in many of Megatel’s projects — set the project apart in the developer’s eyes. The company also plans a bar, arcade, bowling alley and restaurants.

The growth of Megatel’s first master-planned community in the suburb, Anna Town Square, inspired the firm to keep pursuing projects there, Ipour said. Megatel sold all of the 600-acre community’s 2,000 homes, according to a sales concierge for the development.

“A lot of people have interest because it has entertainment for families, something Anna really doesn’t have right now,” Joey Grisham, former director of the Anna Economic Development Corporation, said in January.

There is plenty of competition, though, with developments like Centurion American Development Group’s 1,300-home Villages of Hurricane Creek and Ashton Woods’ 700-lot Coyote Meadows.

Megatel is also among the homebuilders that began offering interest-rate buydowns after the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in 2022. It’s advertising a credit for the first six months of mortgage payments at many homes in AnaCapri, and interest rates as low as 4.5 percent. Megatel also began a program that lets renters at AnaCapri’s multifamily residences get up to $25,000 of their rent refunded and put toward the downpayment for a home after a year of paying rent.

Homes at AnaCapri have an average sale price of $500,000, Megatel Vice President Steve Maglisceau told the Dallas Morning News. Centurion American’s homes average about $400,000, according to online listings. 

Anna lies about 50 miles from the Dallas city center and 25 miles from the burgeoning town of Sherman to the north. The region has seen a constellation of land acquisitions and master-planned community developments, spurred by recent investments in the local semiconductor industry.

In Sherman, semiconductor manufacturing has attracted Texans as well as out-of-state and international residents. Taiwan-based GlobalWafers’s facility is predicted to bring almost 4,500 construction and manufacturing jobs to Sherman, with Texas Instruments’ $30 billion facility set to bring over 3,000 jobs.

That has raised home prices; the median list price for single-room homes is up 30 percent from a year ago, according to Rocket Homes.

Dallas-based Centurion American has emerged as the most prominent community builder in the region, with over five master planned developments in nearby Celina alone. Another town north of Frisco, and part of the “Golden Corridor” for development, Celina was the fastest-growing town in the nation in July.

“I’ve seen a lot of cycles, but never before have I seen an in-migration like we see now,” said Rex Glendenning of REX Real Estate, a Celina native who has brokered major land deals all the way up to the Oklahoma border.

Texas Republic Management, helmed by Dallas oilman Ben Weber Jr., acquired 150 acres near Howe, and another 220 acres in the Golden Corridor in June.

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has invested in the area through Blue Star Land’s acquisitions, and Glendenning facilitated Centurion American’s 1,100-acre purchase near Celina from Blue Star in June as well.

Glendenning doesn’t see the region’s growth letting up anytime soon.

“You’ve got basically no taxes, great airport, great roads, great schools, great police force, low cost of living, great family life, great quality of life,” he said. The cost of living, at least, is “a hell of a lot better than New York and Chicago or California,” he said.