By Linden Wilson
Celebrating the iconic project that changed thebrlandscape of the city
Fifteen years ago this month, Southlake Town Square openedbrits $75 million first phase to the public. Built on 130 acres that used to bebrfarmland, the square initially encompassed more than 250,000 square feet of officebrand retail space that included national brands like The Container Store, Gap,brPottery Barn and Williams & Sonoma. Today, the square is home to SouthlakebrTown Hall, the city’s DPS headquarters, a Harkins theater, Hilton hotel andbrBarnes & Noble. It also features luxury retailers like Malouf’s, J.Crew, MichaelbrKors and Coach and upscale dining destinations including Mi Cocina, Truluck’sbrand most recently, Del Frisco's Grille.
ManybrSouthlake residents know the driving force behind Southlake Town Square, thebrlate Brian Stebbins, but many don’t know how the project began. In 1995, Stebbinsbrand his Cooper & Stebbins business partner, Peter Cooper, selected thebrfuture site of town square as the perfect place for their next venture. Theybrwanted to build a master-planned, open-air, mixed-use lifestyle center thatbrharkened back to eclectic, small-town communities with architecture reminiscentbrof pre-World War II America. To design the square, Stebbins reached out to —bractually, more like tracked down — famed architect, David Schwarz. Afterbrdiscovering he was taking a flight from DFW to LAX, Stebbins bought abrfirst-class ticket that same day so he could sit next to Schwarz on the plane. Stebbinsbrsketched his vision for Southlake Town Square on a cocktail napkin during thebrflight, convincing Schwarz to take on the project.
In December 2008, Forbes.com named Southlake the mostbraffluent neighborhood in the country, attributing the honor to real-estatebrgrowth that stemmed largely from Southlake Town Square. Its design; retail,brresidential and commercial spaces; and impeccably kempt parks have since becomebrinternationally iconic to countries as far away as Japan. Yet just like thebrstory of Stebbins and Schwarz’s meeting, there are a few things you might notbrknow about the history of our beloved community gathering place. Take a lookbrthrough the following pages to discover the hidden gems that make SouthlakebrTown Square special as it celebrates 15 successful years.
Fechtel Farm
· brBefore it was Southlake Town Square, the sitebrincluded a farmhouse built by the McPherson family in 1919. In 1950, Joe andbrHazel Fechtel purchased the land for their farm, the second largest independentbrproducer of processed chicken parts in the country.
· brThe two maple trees in the front of SouthlakebrTown Square were planted by Hazel and spared by accident.
Architecture
· brThe bricks that surround the fountain on the groundbrdisplay the names of community members who have contributed their efforts tobrthe construction of Southlake Town Square.
· brSouthlake Town Square originally planned to includebrbig-box retail like Home Depot and Toys “R” Us, but the shorter block patterns BrianbrStebbins decided on didn't end up having room for them.
· brThe band shell gazebo is inspired by the one onbrthe SMU campus. It was originally going to be a larger building.
· brWhile designing Southlake Town Square, BrianbrStebbins was inspired by Sundance Square in Fort Worth as well as the townbrsquare featured in the famous film, "Back to the Future.”
· brSouthlake Town Square's architect, DavidbrSchwarz, also designed the Texas Rangers Ballpark in Arlington; Sundance Squarebrin downtown Fort Worth; Bass Performance Hall; and the American AirlinesbrCenter, among many others.
· brVarious Southlake Town Square street names,brincluding Grand, State and Prospect, are named after streets found in Chicagobrand Rockford, Ill., where Brian Stebbins grew up.
· brBetween Brooks Brothers and the Apple store,brthere's a noticeable line in the pavement that marks the end of the originalbrfirst phase of development.
· brPreviously, the land where Southlake Town Squarebrsits was the potential site for a regional mall.
Parks and landscape
Rustin Park
· brRustin Park is named after Hazel Fechtel, whosebrmaiden name was Rustin.
Frank Edgar Cornish,brIV Park
· brFrank Edgar Cornish, IV Park is named after thebrlate Frank Cornish, a Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman who passed away frombrheart disease at his Southlake home in 2008. Cornish won two Super Bowls duringbrhis stint as a Cowboy.
· brThe live oaks in the park were relocated frombrthe JCPenney campus headquarters in Plano.
· brThe use of the extensive hardscape and thebrcentral fountain in the park were inspired by a trip to Italy Brian Stebbinsbrtook in 2005.
· brThe site for the Italian eatery, Brio, wasbrinspired by a trip Frank Bliss and Brian Stebbins took to Columbus, Ohio's EastonbrTown Center, where the first location of the Italian restaurant was built.
McPherson Park
· brMcPherson Park is named after the McPhersonbrfamily, who lived near what is nowbrPark Blvd. and Dove Rd. Members of the family once owned the land wherebrSouthlake Town Square is.
Other landscape info
· brLandscape design for Southlake Town Square wasbrinspired by Savannah, Georgia, which isbrknown for its historic squares. Brian Stebbins particularly liked LafayettebrSquare, but there are also elements of Orleans Square, Monterey Square andbrWright Square incorporated in the design of Southlake Town Square.
· brOnebrof Brian Stebbins' favorite towns was Washington, Iowa. He had many fondbrmemories of going there to visit his maternal grandparents. The city's CentralbrPark looks quite similar to Southlake Town Square.
· brThe trees that line Southlake Town Square'sbrstreets are Athena Elms. They have a single common mother located on thebrUniversity of Georgia campus.
· brFormer Southlake mayor, Rick Stacy, and hisbrfamily donated the Christmas tree that's planted near Rustin pavilion.
Retail
· brInitially, it was challenging to get retail intobrSouthlake Town Square — in 1996, retailers told Brian Stebbins, “Goodbrplan, good luck.” Brian then gave them helicopter tours of the property, andbrthey changed their minds.
· brIn March 2000 — only one year after SouthlakebrTown Square opened — retail space was 100-percent occupied, and office spacebrwas 80-percent occupied. Six of the 17 national retailers in Southlake TownbrSquare reported that their Southlake stores had the best opening-day sales ofbrtheir entire national chains. None of the retail tenants turned over during thebrfirst year.
· brThe block where the post office is located wasbr50-percent pre-leased before construction even began.
Residences
· brIn 2006, 43 Southlake Town Square townhome-stylebrbrownstones were completed as the first residential spaces of the project, offeringbrclose proximity to shopping, dining and entertainment.
· brIn late 2013, Cooper & Stebbins announcedbrplans to build The Residences (a five-story condominium building featuring 38 homesbrup to 3,200 square feet in size) and The Garden District, an extension of thebrexisting Main Street Brownstones. These brownstones are expected to bebravailable for occupancy by mid-2015.
Events
Art in the Square
· brArt in the Square was created as a communitybrfundraiser by the Southlake Women's Club shortly after Southlake Town Squarebrwas completed. The festival draws nearly 1,000 artist applicants each year andbrraises hundreds of thousands of dollars.
· brApproximately 25,000 people attended the firstbrannual Art in the Square weekend. More than 40,000 attended the second year,brand the numbers continue to grow.
Stars & Stripes
· brEvery year, Southlake and the surrounding areasbrcelebrate the Fourth of July in the square with fireworks, food and drink andbrentertainment for the whole family.
· brMore than 6,000 Southlake residents attended thebrfirst Stars & Stripes celebration. The second year, more than 20,000brattended.
Oktoberfest
· brFor 12 years, this three-day festival hasbrfeatured a wide variety of German food and drink, live entertainment, arts andbrcrafts and the famous wiener dog races.
Home for the Holidays
· brEvery November, Southlake Town Square comesbralive with the magic of the holiday season and the illumination of thebrChristmas tree. Horse-drawn carriage rides, photos with Santa, face paintingbrand entertainment always make for unforgettable memories.
Other event info
· brOne major difference between Southlake TownbrSquare and many other town center projects is that all of its streets are public, which means that city approval isbrrequired before streets can be closed off for festivals and events.
Miscellaneous facts
· brSouthlake Town Square was originally going to bebrnamed Southlake Town Center. It was changed because Brian Stebbins used tobrvisit his grandfather in the town square where he grew up in Rockford, Ill.
· brBrian Stebbins designed the Southlake TownbrSquare logo.