Prospera Cos. is planning to build at least two more combos in the coming year. "They're complementary. They drive traffic to each other," Jay Rajpal, president of Prospera Cos., explains to GlobeSt.com. "Because we buy sort of prime locations, it makes sense to do retail next to it. And, we can take down a larger piece of land or a more expensive piece of land." Dirt work has just started on the first combo product at 1405 S. Hwy 81 in Decatur.

Rajpal says the retail component, though, isn't patterned after the recognizable La Quinta design. "It's contemporary," he says, adding that was done to build in a separate identity although under one owner's umbrella.

The Decatur hotel will sit on two of the developer's five acres at the crossroads of US. Hwy 81 and 287. Prospera Plaza will deliver in December, with the hotel coming on line in February 2008.

Rajpal says retail tenants started to chase the spec space as soon as the sign went up on the land. David Arnold with Sq. Ft. Inc. of Dallas, who holds the assignment, is in talks with a restaurateur for 10,000 sf.

Rajpal is searching for sites all over North Texas, with offers ready to go down on four suburban sites in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. His development plan calls for up to five La Quintas and 250,000 sf of retail by the end of 2009--some combos and some stand-alones.

Last year, Prospera sold most of its existing stock to focus on ground-up projects. Construction is just wrapping up on a 71-room La Quinta at 3205 Loop 286 NE in Paris, TX, where the developer has a 15,000-sf shopping center under way at a different location. Design and construction are handled in-house.Rajpal says Decatur and Paris have one thing in common. "They're very dynamic markets," he stresses.