The Southern Land Co. and Cherokee developers have again asked Sugar Land residents how they want the Imperial Sugar Refinery property to be developed.

"You can have suburbs that function as urban cores," Cheney said. "That creates community pride and when people leave for college they want to come back."

The elaborate McEwen Drive interchange has been open since the fall, standing as a gateway to destinations not yet built.

But plans abound for a slew of retail, restaurant and commercial developments west of the interchange, where Mallory Lane and McEwen Drive intersect. Each of the four corners at this junction will eventually be home to projects that will likely transform the area that until recently was little more than pastoral landscape beyond Cool Springs.

Save for new traffic lights, asphalt and striping, the McEwen Drive extension from Mallory Lane to Cool Springs Boulevard might already be open to Franklin commuters.

You won’t want to miss this first time event at Windstone, Brentwood’s premier new community by award-winning developer Southern Land Company on Sunday, April 13th from 1:00-4:00pm. Tucked away in a gorgeous valley, you will have the opportunity to tour several of the most beautiful new homes in Williamson County built by the areas most prestigious builders! Tudor, French Eclectic, English Classic, Queen Anne, Italianate and English Picturesque are the inspiration for homes in Windstone. There is a decorated Showcase home, several homes that are available now and others in final stages of construction.

There will be container gardening demonstrations, food and live music.

Home prices range from the $800s to $4 million.

The extremely popular Westhaven Courtyard Garden Tour is gearing up for a 3rd straight year! Hold the dates of May 16th - 18th, on your calendar as you won’t want to miss this opportunity to peak inside some fabulous courtyards – Westhaven’s best kept secrets!

Shay Shafie has been named vice president of development for the Houston operations of Southern Land Co. The company, in conjunction with Cherokee Investment Partners, is developing 650 acres previously owned by Imperial Sugar Co. in Sugar Land.

Nationally acclaimed fine art school, Monart, will open its doors for the first time in the State of Texas on March 6, 2008 in Keller Town Center. Monart has leased space in Arthouse, a dynamic new mixed-use community developed by Southern Land Company which recently opened in Keller in the fall of 2007. Monart is Arthouse’s first commercial tenant.

In this edition of the NAI Nashville Market Report podcast, I spoke with Timothy Downey the President and CEO of the Southern Land Company about their new mixed-use development in the Cool Springs area called McEwen.

Local builder Bruce Hancock has always been interested in using energy-efficient technology in the homes he builds. When he started drawing up plans for his own home, he met with a heating and cooling engineer who mentioned a word he hadn't heard before: geothermal. When the engineer used the phrase "save over 50 percent in electricity costs," Hancock had heard enough. He was in.