Prosper Town Council unanimously approved rezoning and a planned development for The Marco on Tuesday, clearing the way for a 143-acre, Venice-inspired village estimated at $2 billion in investment near the Dallas North Tollway. The project's centerpiece is a 15.5-acre lagoon and canal system designed to be large enough for boats to navigate, bringing a slice of Italy to the fast-growing North Texas suburb.
The council's vote, confirmed by Community Impact, caps months of review for the development, which is planned for the northeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. 380, according to the outlet. FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth reports the zoning approval clears The Marco to move forward, with developer Blackard Companies spearheading the project. A separate report from The Real Deal instead places the 143-acre site at the Tollway's intersection with Highway 183, a discrepancy between the two accounts that has not been resolved.
A Village Built Around Water
The development's plans allow for up to 4,400 residential units spanning apartments, condominiums, villas and townhomes, per Community Impact's reporting. Those homes will be paired with two hotels, office space and retail shops designed around the lagoon, which the outlet describes as the project's defining feature. The Marco is modeled after the city of Venice, according to The Real Deal.
Plans also call for a city- and school-operated performing arts center, a detail confirmed by both Community Impact and CBS News Texas, which reports the venue would be a main part of the development. Community Impact's report notes that Blackard hopes to work with Prosper ISD on the arts center so it can serve both school events and professional performances.
Strict Rules on When Homes Can Open
The approval comes with conditions tied directly to the lagoon's construction. No apartments at The Marco can open until the lagoon is complete, and any mid-rise apartments built beyond the first 1,000 units will require at least 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, the Community Impact report states. The restrictions appear designed to ensure the development's signature water feature and commercial backbone take shape before residents move in.
Jeff Blackard has argued that North Texas should move away from conventional subdivisions in favor of communities built to bring people together, he told CBS News Texas. It's a philosophy he's applied before: Blackard also developed Adriatica Village in McKinney, a mixed-use project modeled on a Croatian fishing village, according to Community Impact. CBS News Texas also points to Blackard's other themed developments, including the Spanish-inspired Entrada in Westlake and Seaside Village in Corpus Christi.
Conflicting Timelines for Construction
When ground might actually break remains unsettled between the available accounts. Community Impact reports that the developer expects construction on the lagoon and other site-wide infrastructure to begin in late 2027, once development agreements are approved. The Real Deal offers a different projection, reporting that Blackard said construction would take roughly five to seven years once underway, with groundbreaking potentially not happening until late the following year.
The timing intersects with other roadwork already planned for the corridor. A new section of the Dallas North Tollway running from U.S. 380 to FM 428 is set to open in late 2027, per Community Impact's reporting, potentially reshaping access to the site around the same period construction is expected to ramp up.
A Long Road to Approval
Tuesday's vote followed a bumpy path through Prosper's approval process. The town council had postponed consideration of The Marco in September, rescheduling the review to Tuesday's meeting, according to Community Impact's earlier coverage. Before that delay, the Prosper Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval in a 4-2 vote in August, the outlet reported.
With zoning now in hand, The Marco is cleared to move forward, though an exact, publicly released completion timeline has not been disclosed. For now, Prosper residents have a green light, a sprawling site plan, and two differing construction forecasts to watch as the project's next steps unfold.
