Jeffory D. Blackard has called the corner of the Dallas North Tollway and US 380 "the best piece of undeveloped real estate, maybe in the world," according to Community Impact. On Oct. 27, Prosper Town Council voted unanimously to rezone those 143 acres for The Marco. It is a mixed-use development modeled on an Italian village, and a project representative puts the investment at about $2 billion.
Even so, the most walkable evening in Prosper this winter will be the one it already has. The rules attached to The Marco put the lagoon walk years away. Until then the town gathers in old downtown, around Broadway Street and Town Hall, and that stretch picked up a new anchor restaurant this October.
What the Vote Approved
The plan is ambitious. Conceptual plans show a 15.5-acre lagoon with canals wide enough to navigate by boat, and the same lagoon doubles as stormwater detention. A passeggiata circles it, a 26-foot-wide walkway with limited car access. Traffic and parking are pushed to the development's outer ring. The Town's own release lists the lagoon at 15 acres. It describes residences, up to two hotels, a market hall, entertainment and more than 1 million square feet of Class A office space.
The corner of the Tollway and US 380 is planned for one or two corporate campuses. Their tallest buildings would reach 14 stories, partly to block road noise from the rest of the site. The northwest corner gets a market square, a grocery store, villas and townhomes. Blackard has said he hopes to build a theater with Prosper ISD, whose voters approved $125 million for a performing arts center in the 2023 bond. As of September, no theater plans had been finalized with the district.
Blackard has built this kind of project before, with Adriatica Village in McKinney. Town Manager Mario Canizares called The Marco "the biggest in the town's history, so we want to get it right," as reported by Community Impact.
The Sequence Comes Before the Stroll
The approval took about five weeks longer than first scheduled. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the project 4-2 on Aug. 18. Council was set to vote Sept. 22, then tabled it until October to tighten the language. Most of the revisions set conditions on what gets built, and in what order. Here is the order now on record:
- Four development agreements. Council still has to approve agreements on economic incentives, on building standards and permitted uses, on impact-fee waivers, and on parks and open space. Officials hope to finish them by the end of 2026.
- The land purchase. The Dallas Morning News reports that Blackard hopes to close on the land in the first quarter of 2027.
- Lagoon and site infrastructure. Construction on these is expected to begin in late 2027.
- The lagoon has to be finished first. No apartments can open until it is complete.
- Retail before more housing. After the first 1,000 mid-rise apartments, at least 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurants must be built before any more units go up. The total stays capped at 4,400 homes, no more than 2,500 of them mid-rise apartments.
The North Texas Tollway Authority is working on a matching timeline. Its new section of the Dallas North Tollway from US 380 to FM 428 is set to open in late 2027, which would give Prosper about 3 miles of tollway on either side. The road and the lagoon are on roughly the same schedule. The passeggiata comes later, because its edges are the parts that open last.
The Passeggiata Prosper Already Has
The ingredients the Marco plan promises at the tollway already exist on a smaller scale in old downtown Prosper. They include a walkable street, a restaurant with a rooftop, a coffee house in a historic building and a plaza built for events.
1902 Restaurant opened Oct. 6 at 209 W. Broadway St. The first-floor dining room and bar are open six days a week, serving steaks, pasta and seafood. Community Impact reported that the rooftop seating, brunch, lunch and Mary Ann's Speakeasy on the second floor would open later. The restaurant's own site already advertises weekend brunch, a rooftop lounge and a hidden speakeasy. Its menu lists an 1836 Black Angus ribeye and Texas redfish, and dinner takes reservations. It's worth calling before planning a rooftop evening around it.
1418 Coffee works out of the town's historic former post office building at 102 E. Broadway St. It held its grand opening in March 2023 and adds live music to the coffee and pastries, according to Star Local Media.
The Tavern on Broadway, at 350 W. Broadway, Ste. 60, opened in January 2025 with a full bar and a casual menu.
Downtown Prosper Plaza on Broadway Street is the outdoor room the town programs. The Town's June 2022 downtown master plan designed the plaza as a gathering and event space. It called for specialty paving, public art, shaded seating, a small lawn and flower gardens. The Marco plan's central idea is the same one at 143-acre scale, with parking kept to the edges, people in the middle and a public space with something always scheduled.
A Month on the Downtown Calendar
The holiday programming makes the point better than any rendering. Every event below takes place in the downtown core.
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Nov. 9 | "Seed to Cup" guided coffee tasting with 1418, free | 200 S. Main St. | 6–7 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Prosper on the Plaza: Friendsgiving | Downtown Prosper Plaza, Broadway St. | Noon–4 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Prosper Christmas Festival, free | Prosper Town Hall, 250 W. First St. | 3–7 p.m. |
Friendsgiving fills the plaza with live bluegrass, a giant corn maze, a petting zoo, face painting, lawn games and food trucks. The Town's listing asks guests to reserve a free seat.
The Prosper Christmas Festival brings an ice-skating rink and Santa's Workshop with free family photos to Town Hall. Visitors can also adopt ornaments made by Prosper ISD elementary art students, and the annual Community Tree Lighting is followed by a Prosper-themed drone show. Sponsors keep the festival free, and their lighted exhibits share the grounds with local businesses, artisans and nonprofits selling gifts, crafts and sweets. There is cookie decorating too. Full details are posted at prospertx.gov/christmasfestival.
The festival wraps at 7 p.m., and 1902 takes dinner reservations online.
Where the Fall's Other Openings Landed
Prosper's newest retail went up along its corridors this fall rather than downtown. Drybar opened Aug. 13 at 1081 Gates Parkway, Ste. 120, in Gates of Prosper. Vitality Bowls followed Sept. 1 at 201 W. Frontier Parkway, Ste. 40. In October, Gourmet European Market opened its second store at 1281 E. University Drive, Ste. 10.
Those openings follow the parkways and the highway. The Marco is designed to bring a walkable plaza out to the tollway someday. Prosper's economic development director, Madison Clark, described its approval as "the latest phase of Prosper's economic expansion," in a statement quoted by Community Impact. For now, the town's tree lighting, ice rink and drone show are scheduled for Dec. 5 at Town Hall, 250 W. First St.
For more on how the town's growth is unfolding block by block, see our Prosper neighborhood guide. If you'd like to talk through how The Marco's timeline might bear on your own plans in Prosper, the team at Local Life follows these approvals closely. Schedule a Private Consultation, and we'll share what we know.
