A sprawling corner of Denton is finally moving toward development.
Houston-based Johnson Development has partnered with The Cole Ranch Company and Denton Range to bring new energy to the long-planned Cole Ranch project — a 3,100-acre mixed-use community decades in the making, first reported by the Dallas Morning News.
Located west of Interstate-35W and just south of the Denton Enterprise Airport, the master-planned project is set to deliver 4,365 single-family homes, with sales expected to launch in 2027. Builder and pricing details are still under wraps.
Johnson Development has made refinements to the original plan, expanding the community’s open-space and recreation features, CEO Michael Smith said.
Roughly 1,200 acres — nearly 40 percent of the property — will be preserved as green space, with 26 miles of trails winding through heavily wooded stretches along Hickory Creek. The community will also feature two lakes, a pair of amenity centers, a 50-acre city park and a 55-acre business park.
On the civic side, about 206 acres will be reserved for two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school within the Denton ISD. Another 156 acres are earmarked for commercial use.
The site is just south of Hillwood’s 3,200-acre Landmark project.
Denton Range, managed by Silvestri Investments, is an investor in the project. Johnson Development is already active in North Texas with its Viridian community in Arlington and Trinity Falls in McKinney.
Plans for Cole Ranch stretch back to the mid-2010s, when the city first held public hearings on the massive residential proposal.
The Texas Legislature approved a municipal management district for the site in 2019. Earlier this year, Denton City Council tweaked the zoning for more than 300 acres from light industrial land in favor of residential and mixed-use development, signaling the city’s shift toward a more community-oriented buildout.
The property has deep local roots. The Cole family has owned the land since the 1930s, when Miner Thomas “M.T.” Cole ran it as a working ranch. His great-granddaughter Jennifer Alexander said the family sought a partner that would honor the history and the beauty of the area.
— Eric Weilbacher
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