Article Published by Dallas Business Journal
By Samantha Thornfelt – Staff Writer, Fort Worth Business Journal, Dallas Business Journal


DBJ hosted the Denton County Growth Summit on Aug. 26 at UNT’s DATCU Stadium, where a sold-out crowd heard from a pair of expert panels.

One focused on the companies involved in billions of dollars in new real estate projects and the other featured leaders from three of the county’s largest employers and economic bellwethers.

The panelists for the first panel were Aimee Bissett, practice lead for planning and entitlements, McAdams; Teague Griffin, partner, Old Prosper Partners; Andrew Pieper, senior vice president, Hillwood Communities; Tommy Tucker, VP of business development for Central and North Texas, Johnson Development; and Kirk Wilson, CEO, T. Wilson. For the second panel, they were Brian Danhof, plant manager, Peterbilt; Steven Edgar, CEO, Medical City Denton; and Harrison Keller, president, University of North Texas.

The conversations covered the projects that are poised to transform more than 12,000 acres of former ranch land in the county with more than $20 billion in investment, as well as the opportunities and challenges inherent in developing in a region with a unique culture and proud history. Panelists also touched on the unique allure and appeal of Denton and the county more widely, as well as how its unique geography and infrastructure access are paving the way for more economic growth. Here were some of the key quotes.

On Future of Denton

“Denton was [for] a long time a little town north of Dallas or Fort Worth. It is no longer that. It’s its own city. It is no longer a suburb — it is a huge mecca. With the two colleges, the growth through employment is huge in Denton. That’s kind of why we’re here.”

— Teague Griffin, partner, Old Prosper Partners

“The trajectories are very bullish in terms of Denton, Denton County, and just the current growth patterns. We are undersupplied compared to some of the other markets in North Dallas, so we think long term this is the place to be. Ultimately, 10, 20, 30 years from now, we’re going to be looking at Denton as an infill city. … With the right planning infrastructure, et cetera, this is going to be really a different landscape, and hopefully for the better.”

— Andrew Pieper, senior vice president, Hillwood Communities

“From a data point, this region is one of the healthiest real estate submarkets in the Metroplex. Yes, things [in the housing market] are soft, but if you look at the vacant developed lot supply, if you look at the homes that are being sold, this is we’re in a very healthy place here. … We have these heat maps, and everywhere across Metroplex was red, which for this map was bad. But there’s one green dot, and it’s right here [in Denton], and we’re bullish about that. And that green dot has not gone away in the last year and a half, and we don’t think it’s going away anytime soon because this area… let the growth come to it. For that reason, we think that while the market is soft, the future is bright.”

— Tommy Tucker, VP of business development for Central and North Texas, Johnson Development

On Balancing Development with History

“I think that an important consideration, especially in Denton County, is what do the residents want? What do the leaders of the community want? … Understanding the natural heritage of the land, understanding the legacy that the families are going to leave behind, and what they would like to see for the future of the community is something, especially in Denton, that’s extremely important. … Those are important considerations for our leaders of our community as well as the residents who live here and care about the vision of the future.”

— Aimee Bissett, practice lead for planning and entitlements, McAdams

“It starts for us as a developer with education. We need to learn about the land, we need to learn about the history of the land. … Every piece of that story will filter into everything we [put] forward in a public way. It’s very much integrated into the entire development from marketing to public relations to outreach. It becomes the core of the story, and every property is different. And at [Cole Ranch], it almost makes our job easy because it’s got such a great story that’s already been told — we’re just adding to it.”

— Tommy Tucker

On Friction Caused by New Development + Government Leadership

“I think our council members and our leaders are extremely sensitive to protecting the creative culture and the unique character of Denton, and that can cause a little consternation sometimes when development is underway. … Denton residents are very protective of it, and I think that has tempered growth in a way that has been healthy for the community.”

— Aimee Bissett

“Leadership’s important, and I think Denton County has that. … There’s a lot of discussion that ‘Oh, council members shouldn’t speak to developers.’ That is wrong. It’s the opposite of what needs to happen. The elected officials do need to be talking to developers and stakeholders to be able to move processes forward. … It’s important to have the dialog, start and to finish.”

— Kirk Wilson, CEO, T. Wilson

On Why Denton

“In Denton, you have a lot of the benefits of small-town Texas, but in striking distance of all the richness of the greater Metroplex. But my favorite thing and my biggest surprise, whether we’re talking about the city or about University of North Texas, is that people are pretty game. … Folks are willing to work together in new ways. Folks are willing to put ideas on the table, and that’s incredibly important right now. Just given the pace of change, we’ve all got to approach this work with due humility. Nobody’s got all the answers, but if we put our heads together, we bring our resources together, then the opportunities really are limitless for us.”

— Harrison Keller, president, University of North Texas

“A lot of [recruiting] comes back to opportunity. … What makes Denton unique is not just the growth that is occurring in city of Denton, county of Denton, but then north of us. There, we’re going to have an opportunity for that population that needs healthcare to go no further than Denton because we’re going to have flag in the ground. … Recognizing the advantage of that while acknowledging that know there’s shortage a shortage in physicians, in nursing, in technologists and food nutrition workers, we need to be cognizant of how we’re developing those folks as well. … Statistics show that 55 to 70% of residents after they graduate will stay in the region in which they trained. For us, that makes sense. We want to make sure that we’re getting them exposed to and giving them an opportunity to live in our community while they’re doing that training as well.”

— Steven Edgar, CEO, Medical City Denton

On What Denton Needs

“It’s been a great opportunity for Peterbilt and Paccar to be here, and we see that continuing. But I think the thing we need more of is that pro-business growth spirit, the collaborative spirit that everyone has together. Here, you’ve got a lot of big names in the room, but everyone acts like we’re on the same team, which is a really unique set of values that the city, the county, the universities and the businesses bring to the table. I think we need to do more of figuring out where we can convene with each other and find those opportunities. All these opportunities happen in rooms just like this.”

— Brian Danhof, plant manager, Peterbilt

On How Huge Employers are Adapting

“The thing we look for is just adaptability. … We do recognize the world’s changed very rapidly. Even from my first, you know, 20 years ago at Peterbilt, the technology in a truck has tripled, quadrupled. … These advanced technologies are changing so fast and then the fact that you have to not only know them but then also react to the market because the market’s going to want what the market wants. … So, that adaptability and that grit and that positive attitude, those soft skills, are what everybody wants. If you’ve got the right attitude at Peterbilt, we can teach you how to make a truck.”

— Brian Danhof

“One of the things that’s unique about UNT’s plan, our vision, our commitment to the future — we are the first American research university to embrace the idea that we should be accountable for whether our degrees translate into economic opportunity. … You read UNT’s plan, the thing that keeps coming up again and again is partnerships. If we’re going to achieve impact at scale, if we’re going to take responsibility for our workforce needs, we can’t do it ourselves. It’s got to be UNT with TWU. It’s got to be UNT with NCTC. It’s got to be us with colleges and universities across the region. It’s got to be us in partnership with the employers. That’s an importantly different perspective, but that’s how we’re going to achieve impact at scale.”

— Harrison Keller