Back Talk Lake Highlands

Tony Romo and Will Smith visit LHHS

Today, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and movie star Will Smith led a pep rally at Lake Highlands High School.

With the Lady Wildcat volleyball team headed to San Marcos for the state semi-finals and the football team going to Corsicana for the second round of playoffs, a pep rally seemed in order. But no one could have ever guessed that these two celebrities would attend, let alone linger and mix with the kids. In the band hall before the pep rally, at the request of Smith and Romo, they answered kids' questions and doled out hugs with no press permitted. Smith had advice for the students, and for the teams in particular - "Be fearless and be relentless." Romo told them from experience, "Every passing moment is an opportunity to turn things around."  Smith and Romo had only one demand - that the day be all about the kids. And the crowd went wild...

Student filmmaker contest tonight

Tonight (Thursday), Lake Highlands High School will host the community to see films written and created by Richardson ISD students. The show begins at 7 pm in the LHHS auditorium, and there is a $5 viewing fee at the door. Each film is less than 5 minutes long, and students had to incorporate a scary Halloween costume into the film. In American Idol fashion the audience will vote, so LHHS kids have more chance of winning the $100 cash grand prize if you show up. See you there!

Lake Highlands Town Center talk

A little more than a week ago, Keri Mitchell and I sat down with some members of the Prescott Realty Group team to get the nitty gritty on Lake Highlands Town Center goings on of late. Spoiler Alert: We didn’t unearth any mind-blowing news, but they did address concerns and offer up a few morsels about what we can expect in future months, days and years.

 The day of our interview, a Thursday morning earlier this month, was a day plagued by bad national news about the economy, so naturally, that was the first order of discussion. How are these troubled pecuniary times affecting Prescott’s pursuit of desirable Town Center tenants?

The response:
First of all, despite rising construction costs and an overall dim economic situation, the Lake Highlands Town Center project ( Download next_phases_8108.pdf) is still on schedule. That means they are now in the phase that includes grading, utility installation, street paving and additional important infrastructure work.  Horizontal construction, as announced in a recent press release (above download), also began on schedule in August, says Stephanie Colovas, Senior Managing Director Acquisitions/Development.

Meanwhile, Mark Henderson, a Lake Highlands resident and Prescott’s Retail Group director is confidently working to secure those tenants. He says Prescott has garnered several letters of intent from potential lessees and is in lease negotiations with an anchor tenant — obviously, they are not prepared to make any announcements yet. He and Colovas grant it could take longer than originally expected to seal deals because companies these days are putting more extended thought into new-store locations.That started before the country's fiscal breakdown was national news, by the way.

But, Prescott team members say, Lake Highlands Town Center has all the so-called bells and whistles that attract great tenants — DART transit; areas to 'live, work, play'; parks, trails, neighborhood-y surroundings and an intriguing "story" to boot.

“Folks are interested. They are listening. They are calling back,” says Henderson.  He also explains that the selling process is a process of educating people and businesses about Lake Highlands. 

When pressed for hints about potential anchor tenants, Henderson says, think specialty store, bookstore, dinner theater … I’d heard specialty grocer and bookstore before, but not the dinner theater thing. They hope to secure at least two anchors soon.(And we hope to bring you the announcement soon!)

Look for more about our Town Center interview in days to come right here on Back Talk.