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FARMERS BRANCH, TX-An Austin developer, who invested nearly seven years into the plan, will jumpstart construction within a month on a $125-million-plus, mixed-use project. The firing pin was last Friday's sale of 11.9 acres to a national townhouse builder.

Bill J. Whitworth, founder of the Whitworth Co., tells GlobeSt.com that he's been assembling the development players since July 2005 when he quietly acquired 24 acres from ExxonMobil Corp., getting the last piece of available land of a former corporate campus.

Whitworth, teaming with Metropolitan Development LLC of Vienna, VA, will build a $50-million apartment complex, Prairie Crossing. Goodman Town Homes, part of the K. Hovnanian Cos. LLC of Red Bank, NJ, will raise a $70-million townhouse development while Direct Development of Dallas is holding 3.5 acres for an upscale retail project.