Rail Fuels Transit-Oriented Development North Texas cities see benefits of DART investment More than 7,000 jobs and over $1 billion in investment: this is the potential impact of just one transit-oriented development project in Irving. Hidden Ridge is being developed, in part, by Verizon, a Fortune 500 company employing about 2,000 people at its existing campus. The Irving City Council approved rezoning an adjacent 110-acre property in April 2016. That decision is paving the way for an expansive mixed-used development that the city expects will add more than 3 million square feet of office space, 1,200 residential units, a high-rise hotel and 85,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Pioneer Natural Resources plans to develop a 750,000-square-foot headquarters on 35 acres in the development. The company expects to break ground this spring, eventually relocating 1,090 staff members and hiring an additional 320 people. A signature piece of the Hidden Ridge project will be a new DART station, Carpenter Ranch. The Hidden Ridge project is expected to be fully built by 2025. Irving City Councilman and former DART Board Chairman John Danish said rail continues to deliver high energy and tremendous interest in his city. “Irving was founded in 1903 as a railroad station, and still today, rail continues to drive much of Irving’s growth,” Danish said. “Everywhere you look in Irving, and particularly in Las Colinas along the DART corridor, you see cranes and construction.” State Farm anchors CityLine project In Richardson, the $1.5 billion CityLine project continues to grow. This dynamic mixed-use development features restaurants, entertainment and retail space. It also is home to the State Farm complex, which occupies about 2 million square feet of leased space and employs some 8,000 people. “State Farm chose this area for its regional hub because of the benefits it provides to the company, our current and future (Above) Plans for Verizon’s Hidden Ridge development include more than 3 million square feet of office space, 85,000 square feet of retail, a full-service hotel, residential apartments and homes. (Left) During Orange Line construction, DART built infrastructure for the future Carpenter Ranch Station that will service the Hidden Ridge area. employees and our customers,” spokesman Chris Pilcic said. “We know many new hires appreciate having multiple transportation options. We have a number of employees utilizing DART to get to work and we suspect more will use transit options in the future.” Nearly 30,000 people live or work in the CityLine development. 8
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