It’s visually stunning and will cost billions of dollars to build. But a North Texas developer is betting big on a proposed Italian-inspired village on a hot piece of property in Prosper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The northeast corner of 380 and the tollway is the best undeveloped piece of real estate, I would say, certainly in the United States, maybe the world,” said developer Jeff Blackard, with Blackard Companies.<\/p>\n
It may not look like much now, but the grass field in Prosper is worth a lot of money, according to Blackard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I would say the hottest market in the United States is the tollway going up north, and that’s the last undeveloped corner of a major intersection,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blackard hopes that in as little as 5 years, it will look like a village of homes, condos, apartments, shops, restaurants, and even a performing arts center inspired by Venice, Italy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Something like this needs to happen on that piece of property,” Blackard said.<\/p>\n
If you don’t believe Blackard can pull it off, just look at his Spanish-inspired village in Westlake called Entrada, his Seaside Village in Corpus Christi, or down the road from Prosper in McKinney at what’s known as Adriatica, where Blackard built a Croatian-inspired village that adheres to his vision of community living<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Just like where I’m standing right now, you’ve got senior living, you have multifamily, you have high-end condos, you have $2 million houses right here. So the bus boy that works in that restaurant right there, lives right there,” he said.<\/p>\n The Marco, as it’s called, would be the developer’s biggest challenge yet, with a mile-long promenade surrounding a large lagoon and canals for water taxis.\u00a0<\/p>\n A city and school-operated performing arts center would also be a main part of the development.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I think that idea will last hundreds of years,” said Blackard. “Not your typical 30-year cycle, you have to tear it down.”<\/p>\n The project has support from city leaders.<\/p>\n “I welcome the vision for the Marco project,” said Prosper Mayor David Bristol. “If the zoning is approved by the Town Council, it has the potential to be a generational project at a key location for our community. “<\/p>\n The city council will vote next week on a zoning request for the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blackard says North Texas needs to rethink traditional subdivisions and build communities that bring people together.\u00a0<\/p>\n “If we can show how this will work, there will be a lot more of that,” he said.<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n