An inside look at Lucy Billingsley's next $100 million in projects

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Billingsley Co. plans to begin construction on The Boat House in Austin Ranch next spring. The project totals 526 apartment homes and will sit at the southwest corner of Windhaven and Plano parkways in The Colony.

Candace Carlisle

Staff Writer- Dallas Business Journal

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Lucy Billingsley has been a busy woman with projects such as the $3.5 billion Cypress Waters corporate hub, landing big tenants like EnLink at One Arts Plaza and developing Mercer Business Park.

But she likes to strike while the market is hot, and Dallas-Fort Worth commercial real estate is on fire.

That has Billingsley, a partner at Dallas-based development firm Billingsley Co., looking at her next big projects totaling $100 million that she plans to kick off early next year with the help of her newly formed construction company, Billingsley Construction Inc.

"High-density multifamily living is becoming much more expensive, which can be a bad thing and a good thing," Billingsley told the Dallas Business Journal in an exclusive interview. "The cost of construction isn't good, but the quality of this high-density living is moving higher. These new projects will be built to last, with a significance to it."

Billingsley is working up conceptual renderings of The Brickyard, a $50 million apartment development at Mercer Crossing near Stemmons Freeway and LBJ Freeway, which will compliment the corporate headquarters that are being recruited to Mercer Business Park, such as Monitronics.

The new project will total 861 total apartment homes in 13 buildings that will be primarily be made out of brick and wrap around Mercer Crossing Lake. The property is expected to be 85 percent brick, Billingsley told me.

"We've had this property for a couple of years now and once we were able to secure Monitronics and launch its corporate headquarters we thought it was an important thing to bring in residential," she told me. "The current zoning is for an urban, mixed-use product and we will be delivering that."

Billingsley said her new construction company is ready to begin construction on the apartment project by January, with an expectation that the first apartment homes would be finished in early 2016.

Along with the brick buildings, Billingsley said she plans to incorporate art and color into the project, such as a large glass water tower that will be a showcase piece for the property (and one she found on Pinterest).

The Brickyard isn't Billingsley's only project on her radar. She's also getting ready to start The Boat House in Austin Ranch in The Colony, which is expected to cost $50 million at completion.

The Boat House includes 34 buildings at the southwest corner of Windhaven and Plano parkways with a total of 526 apartments and is currently underway. Billingsley says she expects the project to be complete May 2015.

The residential complex will include a 4,000-square-foot clubhouse and workout facility. The property will be located lakeside at Shiff Lake Dam and will incorporate the natural setting into the residential complex for residents.

There's plenty of reasons why Billingsley is getting these projects underway, adding nearly 1,500 apartments with these projects totaling $100 million to North Texas.

Candace covers commercial and residential real estate and sports business.