The undertaking is a twist from the norm for Bennett Realty, known for its savvy in land investment and sales and residential development in Arizona, California and Seattle. Bennett will joint venture with office, retail, residential and hotel developers to steer the vision to reality. The plan right now calls for two million sf of class A office space, 1,500 for-rent and sale lofts and condos, 500,800 sf of retail and entertainment plus two hotels, one a convention facility and the other, an extended stay version to cater to airlines employees. Market demand closer to groundbreaking time will dictate how the project evolves, says Bennett.

The project will revolve around high-end boutique and specialty retailers, sans major anchors. "There will be no big boxes," Bennett stresses, "and no major anchors." He's been burned once in the regional mall planning and doesn't intend for it to happen again. A half dozen years of hard work were scuttled when Nordstrom's backed out of its anchor slot and headed to the North East Mall, which opened this fall. Bennett confides he was disappointed, but refused to back down in his plan to develop the acreage. Now, his strategy is to build "a world-class team that can in fact develop a world-class project. I will surround myself with the best talent available that will attract the best developers," he vows.

Bennett Realty started acquiring vast tracts of land in Euless in 1986 and has since sold off some 700 acres to multifamily developers, who have the infrastructure in place to advance Bennett's upscale, pedestrian-friendly lifestyle development. The hurdle now will be to work with Euless officials to game out a catch-all zoning conducive to the project. Bennett Realty will retain ownership of the 218 acres and participate in the development of the mixed-use components.