Project Spotlight: Land Planning and Negotiation
Goodland Master Planned Community
Goodland is a 5,000-acre master-planned community in North Texas with plans for 10,000 homes, industrial facilities, data centers, a retail town center, and extensive parks and recreation amenities.
Scale
5,000 acres
Residential Development
10,000 projected homes
Population
50,000 projected residents at build-out
Commercial Development
Industrial facilities, data centers, and retail/town center
Financial Innovation
Decades phased TIRZ reimbursement structure across six zones
The Challenge
Developing a community of this scale in the City of Grand Prairie’s extraterritorial jurisdiction required regional infrastructure planning and a financing strategy that balanced City revenue goals with project phasing.
The Solution
ABHR structured an integrated legal framework, combining a comprehensive development agreement, a master district system for regional water, sewer, drainage and roads, and a six-zone, phased Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ) providing 60 years of reimbursement.
This approach aligned City and developer interests by providing immediate funding for public improvements while ensuring sustainable tax revenue for the City over time.
ABHR’s Role
Serving as bond and general counsel, the firm negotiated the development and phased annexation plan with the City of Grand Prairie, structured a master district system that provides regional infrastructure while allowing participant districts to finance their own needs through ad valorem taxes, drafted and negotiated the multi-zone TIRZ, and secured City consent to use TIRZ proceeds for projects outside Municipal Utility District (MUD) authority and for credit enhancement of the MD’s bonds, improving marketability and reducing borrowing costs.