Would you believe a new JCPenney store at Skillman & Northwest Highway?

Sunday update: We've added the link to the marketing piece here.

In what has to rank as a stunning but welcome development, Trammel Crow Company is circulating a real estate marketing brochure that features a 100,000-square-foot JCPenney store — along with what could be up to a 300,000-square-foot Wal-Mart — as the two anchors of Timbercreek Crossing, the retail development soon to be rising like a phoenix on the 44-acre Timbercreek apartments site at Skillman and Northwest Highway. Joining the mix are Chick-fil-A, Bank of America, and a number of other retailers/restaurants that haven't been announced and/or signed yet.

We've already made a couple of phone calls to track down more information, and we'll update this as soon as we hear something.

And yes, you read that right: JCPenney. New store. Here in our neighborhood. And it raises the bigger question: What does this mean for the Lake Highlands Town Center?

First things first, though: It turns out Penney's is opening 250 new and relocated stores between now and 2011; the most recent block of 22 new stores includes one in Sherman. Penney's even has a website devoted to their new stores. Another new one is slated for Rockwall.

The new Penney's stores "showcase the company's major brand concepts," according to the Dallas Business Journal (which hasn't yet reported on the new Skillman store, although the Rockwall one is mentioned). Many of the stores feature something called a Sephora Inside JCPenney boutique, a 1,500-square-foot beauty concept, the DBJ says.

The rest of the Timbercreek Crossing site plan marketing piece features a glowing halo hovering over a rather stylish-looking building that turns out to be the Wal-Mart, along with what looks like a mammoth entry feature on the connecting road between Skillman and Northwest Highway.

Word to the wise: If that is going to be the major entrance to this monstrous site, State Farm and Farmers should look for a nearby storefront. There are going to be a hellacious number of accidents there, with people already whizzing along the current connector from Skillman to Northwest Highway. Dumping a lot of traffic out on that connector (even if it's widened) seems like a horrible idea; in fact, I can't believe the city's traffic people will even allow that to occur.

Overall, though, I'd have to say that Crow has done a good job of preventing this site from turning into what might be considered a typical Wal-Mart installation, with a big box and lots of parking and that's all that is visible from the street. And remember, the first reports going around said there might be a Sam's Club/Wal-Mart combo on the site.

The facades of the buildings, which I realize are probably just marketing puffery, still exhibit a pretty decent architectural feel for big boxes, and the Chick-fil-A and Bank of America are essentially facing Northwest Highway and Skillman.

Given what's happening here, along with the apartments that are being torn down just south of the Medallion Target across the street, you have to think we're in for a whole bunch of new retail in this neighborhood pretty soon.

Now, back to the town center question: We all know Prescott has plans for 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of retail space at the town center. Assuming Prescott had a sniff that Penney's was looking around this neighborhood for a new store, surely the town center was presented as an alternative. One clue as to why the chips fell where they did probably lies in Crow's marketing document: traffic counts are identified as 66,000 vehicles per day on Northwest Highway and 26,561 vehicles per day on Skillman. Driving farther up Skillman to reach the town center likely pulls the traffic numbers down a bit, and that's not good news when you're trying to market to retail — traffic numbers are king with those guys.

So what does this mean for the town center? Probably nothing more negative than a longer-than-expected buildout, given that both this deal and the stuff going on around Medallion are going to get first-pick of retailers out looking around. And the overall activity is an endorsement of the fact that our neighborhood's time has come, since a national retailer like Penney's brings a tacit endorsement that we're finally the "right" kind of people in the "right" kind of neighborhood.

And a tip of the Back Talk fedora to one of our visitors, who put us on this news. Thank you, Brian.

Comments

[dallasite]

Rick: the apartments south of the Target on NW/Fisher are being rebuilt as apartments, not retail, according to a news article that ran a month or so ago in the DMN.

[Triple Wildcat]

I'm not too worried about the traffic along Skillman between Abrams and NW Highway since you have to slow down to dodge all the jaywalkers - many of them mothers pushing strollers and holding toddlers by hand. It's a tragedy waiting to happen and I don't understand why there isn't occasional police presence to make them walk the additional 50-100 feet to a stoplight.

That said, I'm happy to see a Bank of America moving into the lower part of Lake Highlands. That's my bank, and they've got locations everywhere except in the heart of Lake Highlands. I drive past every other brand of bank before I can find a Bank of America. There's one up on Abrams and Forest, which is near where another Chick-Fil-A is supposed to go in.

I'm not as ga-ga about Chick-Fil-A as a lot of neighborhood people seem to be - its chicken sandwiches are overpriced, undersized and underdressed (Just a pickle? Really?). But they're tasty and their restaurants are well-kept and supportive of the community. Most of all, they would be an alternative to our limited fast food choices in LH.

Now, if we could get a drive-thru at the Boston Market like the one on Garland Road has...

[Rick Wamre]

Dallasite, thanks for the clarification. I knew the apartments were going to be replaced with more apartments, but you certainly couldn't tell that from the way I wrote it! My point is that with all of the building activity in that area, it's becoming a natural for an overall redo. And with higher and better (read: new) developments eventually taking over the car dealership, the apartment complex just north of that and the northeast and southeast corners of Northwest Highway and Abrams, there could be a veritable explosion of development — assuming the lenders keep lending.

[chris]

Yay. A bland JC Penney, Wally World and more fast food. How exciting.

[Brian LaCroix]

This project really does seem ho-hum. Maybe if there were some renditions and further information, but in the days of projects like Victory, LHTC and Park Lane Place - it amazes me that we would change zoning for something this plain vanilla with no residential mix on-site (especially when the previous zoning had a ton of residential units).

[Kathy]

While I would welcome Penney's and Chick-Fil-A (although Skillman/NWH is just barely closer than the Central/Southwestern and Plano Road locations),just how many Sam's/Wal-Marts does LH need? There are two Sam's already nearby and a new Wal-Mart going in at Forest/Abrams. So where is Costco in this mix?? The nearest Costco is practically in Oklahoma (well, Plano... but that's not my beaten path). At least it would offer some big-box variety for our 'hood...

[CBS]

Costco would be a HUGE improvement...but alas, unlikely.

[Kathy]

Unlikely true.... but it never hurts to get it out there! :)

[chris]

I'm still wondering why we need a Wally World when there are TWO Target stores within a mile of the site.

[LH]

300,000 sq ft is WAY TO BIG for Wal-Mart Supercenter itself. The largest Supercenters are a little over 200,000 sq ft. Now a Wal-Mart and a Sam's Club would be over 300,000 sq ft. That foot print is also differnt from typical Supercenters.