Two key Collin County corner properties have sold to a Dallas businessman and automotive dealer.

Remington Partners, a company headed by businessman Stan Graff, purchased development sites on two corners of Preston Road in Prosper and Celina. Both properties are planned for shopping center development.

The vacant properties on the Prosper/Celina border were sold by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ Blue Star Land. Jones’ firm acquired the properties in 2003 and 2017, according to tax records.

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The almost 40-acre tracts are on the northeast and southeast corners of Preston Road and Frontier Parkway.

Blue Star Land has been one of the largest developers in Prosper, with its construction of the huge Gates of Prosper shopping center at Preston Road and U.S. Highway 380. The firm is also working on a mixed-use development in Prosper’s historic downtown district.

Matthew Kiran and Rex Glendenning with Rex Real Estate negotiated the Graff purchases with Joe Hickman of Blue Star Land.

Graff plans on developing a grocery-anchored shopping center on the corners, Kiran said.

“Graff’s Remington Partners has positioned [itself] very well with these two key corners at this strategic intersection,” Kiran said. “These two corners are fantastic additions to Graff’s other holdings located at the corner of the Dallas North Tollway and the Outer Loop.”

Graff owns Dallas-area automobile dealerships and has other business interests in the area. Graff also owns a more than 5,500-acre ranch northeast of Dallas in Red River County.

Remington Partners’ purchases are the latest retail tracts to change hands in fast-growing areas of Collin County.

Grocer H-E-B has purchased almost 20 acres on Frontier Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway extension in Prosper, where it plans a new store. Dallas’ Urban Heights Real Estate acquired a nearly 35-acre tract at the same intersection for a future shopping center project.

Five new restaurants are slated to open in Prosper and Celina in the coming months.

1. Phoke Noodles & Grill

Phoke Noodles & Grill is opening soon in Prosper. The restaurant will serve unique yet authentic Vietnamese cuisine, such as pho and rice noodle soup, according to the company’s social media.

2. OMG Tacos

The fast-casual restaurant plans to open its first Celina location, according to the location’s owner. Once open, the new OMG Tacos will offer Asian-Mexican fusion meals, such as teriyaki chicken tacos, vegan fish tacos, barbacoa quesadillas, pork loaded fries, steak rice bowls and more, according to its website. Desserts, such as churros, paletas and more, will also be available.

3. Fish City Grill

Fish City Grill is slated to open a new location. The new eatery will offer oyster nachos, calamari, cheeseburgers, lobster and shrimp grilled cheese sandwiches, and more. Fish City Grill also has a gluten-free menu available, according to its website.

4. Heyday

Heyday is expected to open in Celina, co-owner Anthony Morel said. Once open, Heyday will offer “an elevated cocktail menu” with drinks that include an espresso martini and nitrous stout as well as liquid nitrogen-infused cocktails, Morel said. An "inviting menu" of food options will also be available, Morel said.

5. Kolache Shoppe

The Kolache Shoppe is slated to open its first Dallas-Fort Worth location in Celina, according to a news release. The Kolache Shoppe sells both sweet and savory kolaches with fillings that include apricot, poppy seed and apple, sausage, egg and cheese, smoked brisket, venison sausage, and more, according to the news release.

Editor

Samantha is the editor for the Frisco and Prosper-Celina editions. She joined Community Impact in 2021 as the editor for the Lewisville-Flower Mound-Highland Village editions. She graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington in 2018 with a degree in journalism. Before joining Community Impact, she reported on education for the Victoria Advocate, a rural South Texas daily newspaper.

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Last year, Anna defeated Celina for the first time in 50 years; then they topped the Bobcats again in the playoffs. Friday night, Celina has their chance at revenge.

CELINA, Texas — One year ago Saturday, the Anna Coyotes sent reverberations across the high school football world. For the first time since 1972, the Coyotes defeated the Celina Bobcats. The 28-25 final score was reported far and wide - even Sports Illustrated featured the landmark win. Fifty years is a long time, and that win drew its fair share of attention.

A little over two months later, Anna knocked off Celina again. The 27-24 playoff victory advanced the Coyotes to the 4A-Division I Region II final, where they would see their dream season come to an end at 13-1, as they lost to eventual state champion China Spring, 31-14.

But the two wins over Celina were benchmark victories for Seth Parr's program that had been steadily improving in recent years.

Now, Anna has to tackle an even bigger challenge -- backing those wins up all over again, a year later, on the road.

Fifth-ranked Celina welcomes the No. 2 Coyotes into Bobcat Stadium on Friday night at 7:30, and you can watch the game live on WFAA+, as Week 4 of "Friday Night Football" hits the air.

You can watch the game live on our streaming platform WFAA+. WFAA+ is available on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. You can also watch the game right here on WFAA.com, or on our WFAA YouTube channel.

Celina is looking to build off an impressive 3-0 start that has seen them average better than 51 points per game. The Bobcats are led by a dynamic tandem at running back.

Sophomore Logan Gutierrez has been long anticipated in the Celina community, and he's arrived here as a sophomore in a dramatic way, already rushing for over 500 yards and 9 touchdowns in his first three games of this season. Against Bishop Lynch, he tallied the outrageous stat line of: 26 carries, 254 rushing yards, and 5 touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 39 more yards, and a sixth total touchdown.

And his backfield-mate Harrison Williams, a junior, had a similarly outstanding game, carrying 24 times for 326 rushing yards and three touchdowns of his own, in the Bobcats 77-41 win over the Friars. Anna's defense will have to find a way to slow down this one-two punch the Bobcats have at tailback.

Meanwhile, Anna features a young quarterback doing a marvelous job at replacing a star. Evan Bullock led Anna to that dream season in 2023, and is now at Louisiana Tech playing Division I football.

Williams, just a sophomore himself, has stepped in and lit the 4A ranks on fire in his first two games. Williams has 451 passing yards and 7 touchdowns, plus another 159 rushing yards and a TD. And he's done that without his top target, Jacob Emmers, healthy yet. Ronald Bell, Jr. and Sean Steens have both played terrific football these first two weeks, to step up in Emmers absence.

Defensively, Celina has talent all over the field. The Biagini brothers - older brother Cade, a senior; younger brother Luke, a sophomore - bookend their three-man linebacking corps. Cooper Farrow mans the middle of the field, and will look to make life difficult for the Coyotes offense. Ben Thomas is a presence at defensive end, and Jameson Driver roams the middle of the field for Celina at strong safety.

The Coyotes defense is as veteran as it gets -- 10 of their 11 starters are seniors. Grayson Stewart and CJ Miller work in tandem at linebacker, to fill the gaps. And senior Nathan Nickerson is a phenomenally talented defensive lineman who Parr is very excited about.

Just like Frisco and Plano before, Celina is next in line to become one of North Texas’ boomtowns. As previously reported by Local Profile, Celina’s exponential population growth over the past couple of years is changing its landscape, and in turn, the new residents are attracting new businesses.

Part of Celina’s advantage is its strategic location — only a 15-minute drive away from Frisco. The Collin County town is near major commercial centers connected thanks to Preston Road running through the city. This perk will only be favored by the new Dallas North Tollway expansion and last year big brands like Cotsco tried to get ahead of the curve by securing a spot in the up-and-coming town.

It’s not just retail companies that are eying Celina, real estate firms have big plans for the city. In April 2022, Centurion American Development Group broke ground to begin the construction of a 3,200-acre community with 7,000 single-family homes and another 4,100 multifamily units. Now Rockhill Capital & Investments teamed up with Toll Brothers, the Pennsylvania-based building company behind several developments across Collin County, to bring The Ranch a new residential community to uptown Celina.

According to the Dallas Business Journal, The Ranch, located two miles east of the future Dallas North Tollway, will feature 450 single-family units that are expected to be available in 2024.

“Uptown Celina will be an extension of downtown, offering ‘backyard’ access via its trails,” said in an official statement Ryan Griffin, principal at Rockhill Capital & Investments. “We are excited to advance this project alongside talented builder partners, Taylor Morrison and Toll Brothers, starting with The Ranch at uptown Celina.”

When asked about why Celina, Griffin told WFAA that he believes it’s poised to become another Frisco. In addition to masterplanning the city, the government in Celina is willing to invest in its community. “Their EDC focuses on their downtown area in a very similar way to how McKinney did their downtown area over the last 20 years through both private-public partnerships and to some extent organic growth,” added Griffin.

According to Griffin, Taylor Morrison and Toll Brothers' plans are close to being approved, and they hope to start working on the first phase in the next 60 to 90 days. At full buildout, the project will hold a 2,500-lot community.

The development roughly two miles east of the future Dallas North Tollway will tie into Celina's downtown square.

CELINA, Texas — Read this story and more North Texas business news from our partners at the Dallas Business Journal

With the expansion of the Dallas North Tollway, a flourishing historic downtown, and relative affordability compared to nearby northern Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, Celina has a lot going for it, says Ryan Griffin, principal at Rockhill Capital & Investments.

Against that backdrop, Rockhill has teamed up with Taylor Morrison and Toll Brothers to launch The Ranch at Uptown Celina, a 450-home residential community located on 150 acres between FM 455 and future Celina Parkway.

The development roughly two miles east of the future Dallas North Tollway will tie into Celina's downtown square by a golf-cart-friendly hike-and-bike trail. It’s also slated to have a pool, water feature, parks and green space.

Construction is underway on the project, with grading expected to commence in early 2023.

The Ranch at Uptown Celina is part of the broader four-community Uptown Celina district, a 675-acre project planned for about 2,500 single-family homes.

In the interview that follows, Griffin tells us more about the project, the housing market and why he’s bullish on Celina.

Why is it a good time right now to launch the Ranch at Uptown Celina?

Three reasons. One is that the Dallas North Tollway with the service lanes and the overpass over Highway 380 has really opened up housing in Celina to employment in Frisco and North Dallas.

The second reason is it's more affordable than obviously Frisco and Prosper. If you've been tracking this market, you know what Frisco is doing, and Prosper is right there with it (in rising home prices). In order to afford a home, Celina is a really good area.

And thirdly, Celina has made a huge investment in their downtown area. Their EDC focuses on their downtown area in a very similar way to how McKinney did their downtown area over the last 20 years through both private-public partnerships and to some extent organic growth. You can tell they really made a huge investment there.

This property (The Ranch at Uptown Celina) is all accessible to the downtown area via hike and bike trails. Celina is a golf-cart community and that's something that the younger generations today find attractive. They really don't want to get into a vehicle. They want to be able just to hop on a cart and drive into downtown, eat dinner, have a beer and go home.

How do you see Celina developing over the next few years?

I think Celina is poised to be another Frisco. They certainly have done a great job of of masterplanning their city and deciding what goes where, just like Frisco did. We're bullish on Celina. We like that area. It's great community.

What is your timetable with The Ranch at Uptown Celina?

Taylor Morrison and Toll Brothers' plans are really close to getting approved. They'll be coming out of the ground pretty quick. I would say they're starting in the next 60 to 90 days, and they're hoping to have lots on the ground in late 2024 or early 2025. It will certainly be ready to have houses ready for the spring season 2025.

This is the first phase. What will be he total home count at full buildout?

It’s a 2,500-lot community, and that’s not including multifamily and some townhome, and we might have some single-family rental go in.

I know this is difficult to predict, but are you anticipating changes in the mortgage-rate environment or the demand environment by the time these homes are available?

We have to take that day to day. Nobody has a crystal ball. I personally am in the camp that interest rates might tick up a little bit more then maybe stabilize over the next quarter or so.

I know that builders had a really good January and I am very optimistic about the spring. I think honestly that buyers are coming to grips with the fact that interest rates are 7%, not three. Keep in mind they can maybe get down to 5.5% if they buy rates down. Historically speaking, that's a cheap rate. We got a little spoiled when it was 2.75%. A lot of these buyers, if mortgage rates turn around and go back down, they always can refinance. So I think they're just getting comfortable with that. I think the last six months, the last year, it was just a such a shock to the system that everybody kind of froze.

Job growth is a huge driver, and Dallas-Fort Worth just doesn't show any sign of slowing down. Don't get me wrong, I'm always cautious, but I do think that we've got a bright future over the next 24 months, if not longer.

This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.