I've been in this business for more than 23 years, and I've learned to watch for one thing above almost everything else. It's not the ribbon cutting. It's the zoning vote that makes a ribbon cutting possible.

Van Alstyne just had one.

On October 13, the Van Alstyne City Council voted 6-0 to rezone about 69.2 acres at the northwest corner of US 75 and FM 121 (Van Alstyne Parkway). The project is called The Landing at Van Alstyne. It took two delays to get here. Council tabled it in August and again in September. But it's done, and it's one of the more interesting retail corners on the whole US 75 corridor right now.

What Was Approved

The land moved from general commercial zoning to a planned development district with three sub-areas. Here's what the city documents allow:

  • Sub-Area A (big stuff on the highway): Big-box retail, defined as a store of at least 50,000 square feet, plus indoor and outdoor building materials sales, outdoor equipment rental and drone facilities behind a big-box store. Buildings can go up to 55 feet.
  • Sub-Area B (pads and restaurants): Smaller pad sites, shops, offices and restaurants. It must include at least two sit-down restaurants with no drive-thru. It allows up to five drive-thru restaurants by right (two on FM 121, three on US 75), drive-thru beverage shops and one car wash. A hotel, child care center or food truck park would need a special use permit.
  • Sub-Area C: Townhomes or up to 280 apartments, capped at 45 feet tall.

The concept drawings also show a fuel station and convenience store.

No tenant has been named. I'll be honest, the rules do include specific outdoor display allowances for a "home improvement" big-box use. That doesn't mean one is coming. It just means somebody thought about it.

The Part I Really Like

The city also approved a development agreement with the landowner, Central 121 No. 1 LP. It bars the uses that tend to drag a center down over time. That means no payday or auto title lenders, no pawn shops, no smoke or vape shops, no tattoo parlors, no gaming machines, no package liquor stores under 10,000 square feet and no businesses that mostly rely on outdoor storage.

Those restrictions run with the land and bind future owners.

The owner also agreed, where it can, to have construction materials taxed in Van Alstyne so the city gets the sales tax. And there's an exit clause tied to a July 28, 2026, contract to sell the property to C-Star Acquisitions LLC. If that sale doesn't close, the owner can end the agreement. Separate financial incentives were still being negotiated, according to Citizen Portal's meeting summary.

Translation: this deal has some steps left. But the zoning is in place, and zoning is the hard part.

Why This Corner, Why Now

The people are already here. Census estimates put Van Alstyne at about 8,012 people in July 2025, up 82.2% from roughly 4,400 in 2020. Grayson County reached about 153,600, up 13.3%. Big-box retailers don't guess. They count rooftops, and the count keeps going up.

The highway is getting bigger. TxDOT is widening US 75 from the Collin County line to FM 902 from four lanes to six, converting the frontage roads to one-way and adding U-turn bridges, including one in Van Alstyne near Simmons Loop. On October 5, work started on the next 5.76-mile stretch from FM 902 in Howe to FM 1417 in Sherman, a project valued at more than $155.5 million.

The jobs are up the road. Texas Instruments began production at its first Sherman 300mm chip fab, SM1, in December 2025. TI's Sherman site has room for up to four fabs and as many as 3,000 direct jobs. GlobalWafers has also started production at its Sherman silicon wafer plant. I've written about the Sherman boom before. What I'm watching now is how the towns between Sherman and Collin County capture the shopping and dining dollars.

Van Alstyne sits right in that path. That's the story.

What I'd Do Right Now

If you own land near US 75 and FM 121: Your property may have just gotten more valuable, but don't take the first postcard offer. Big-box anchors pull pad users, banks, medical, auto service and small-bay flex to the land around them. Get a real valuation and check your zoning, utilities and access before you sign anything.

If you're buying: The tracts right on the corner will price in this news fast. Look one ring out, along FM 121 and the US 75 frontage roads, where access is good and the asking prices haven't caught up yet. That's where I usually see the better risk-reward.

If you're a developer: Watch for a tenant announcement and the incentive agreement. Once an anchor is named, the race for nearby pads and shop space starts. Small-bay retail and service space for local businesses is thin in this part of Grayson County.

If you run a business looking for space: Restaurants, coffee, fitness, medical and service users should start conversations early. The best pads near a new anchor go first, and they go quietly.

Let's Talk About Your Property

I may be the only guy in Collin County who reads zoning ordinances for fun. I've made peace with it. If you own land or commercial property in Van Alstyne, Grayson County, Collin County or anywhere in Texas, I'd be glad to tell you what deals like this could mean for your value. I work all over the state.

Call or text me at 214-714-5638 or email dan@cooperlandcompany.com. I promise I'll skip the drone facility talk unless you ask.

Related Reading

Sources

Header photo: Downtown Van Alstyne, November 2013, by Renelibrary, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), resized.

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