"We have opportunities to create urban villages or retail nodes along this corridor. If we're fortunate, we'll be able to create some new niches," Paul Gooch, managing director of community services for Irving, tells GlobeSt.com. The public tonight will get its first look at the redevelopment vision for a corridor stretching from Texas 183 to Loop 12, just north of the proposed redevelopment of Texas Stadium by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. Sponsored by the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, the presentation begins at 6 p.m. in city hall at 825 W. Irving Blvd.

The redevelopment corridor includes a land assembly by Lubbock, TX-based McDougal Cos., which has proposed a $500-million transit-oriented development bounded by Pioneer Parkway, South MacArthur Boulevard, Shady Grove Road and Britain Road. The proposal last fall hit a hailstorm of opposition as residents argued it wouldn't be affordable housing or shopping. "The community has had to digest what the possibilities are and are working through what those should be and could be with Mr. McDougal on the redevelopment," Gooch says.

Present

By the end of May, Edaw Inc. and Leland Consulting Group, both from Denver, will present the council with a redevelopment plan for retail, traffic flow, green space and design options for the land masses. Leland also will assist city leaders in developing and securing financing mechanisms to bring the plan to fruition.

Gooch says the largest and most high-profile land mass is the crossroads of Irving Boulevard and Story Road. "There are three corners and lots of opportunity for redevelopment," he says. "It's a wonderful opportunity for a high-density, mixed-use urban village connected by overhead bridges. That is a key opportunity in this corridor."