\u201cThis ranch has been a part of the Walsh family for the better part of 100 years,\u201d Burdine said. \u201cIt\u2019s the single largest contiguous tract of land within 10 minutes of an essential business district anywhere in the country. So it\u2019s a massive blank canvass with a lot of opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobles said the opening of the first phase at Walsh will begin this April which includes 587 lots to be sold. That\u2019s 1,700 acres that will be developed which already includes roads, water and sewer lines. By the time school opens in the fall a $12.1 million amenities center is also expected to open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a master planned community,\u201d Nobles said. \u201cThere\u2019s not going to be any labels. You\u2019re just going to drive into a well landscaped, nature rich neighborhood, everything functioning and working together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that functioning includes two gigabit internet speeds in every home and school as the minimum connectivity standard. Residents at Walsh won\u2019t see an internet bill for the service as costs will be covered by their homeowners association dues. Ten gigabit service plans are available to future corporate campuses, or any resident that wishes to upgrade their two gigabit bandwidth, at the nation\u2019s most affordable rates.<\/p>\n
Among the first to benefit from technological advances at Walsh will be students attending a new Aledo ISD elementary school, set to open for the 2017-2018 academic school year. The award-winning school district intends to support a STEAM curriculum at what will be the first of as many as eight future elementary schools located in Walsh neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Burdine said roughly 15,000 single family homes will encompass the area when totally \u201cbuilt-out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re talking about 50,000 people and a value of more than $6 billion in valuation over the life of the project,\u201d Burdine said. \u201cWe have roughly 1,000 acres of commercial land we\u2019ll be methodically developing and working through in the next 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the challenge with building a 15,000 lot community over that time frame is not \u201cscrewing it up\u201d to begin with.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your home\u2019s built in the beginning it must stand the test of time. You have to do it right, do it well…try to have it exceptional, otherwise you\u2019re going to have lot of problems maintaining that value moving forward,\u201d Burdine added. \u201cIt\u2019s a problem all developers deal with over time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the way they accomplish that is through architectural style and an anti-monotony standard.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery lot will be unique,\u201d Burdine added.<\/p>\n
The ranch itself is 7,200 acres in its entirety. The Walsh\u2019s vision for the development was to have open spaces and a nature rich community, Burdine said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they dedicated in their development agreement with the City of Fort Worth – and this is a part of the City of Fort Worth located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction today – 2,300 acres of Walsh to open space.\u201d<\/p>\n