Argyle's 141-Acre Heath Tract Development — Featuring a Potential Warehouse Grocery — Has Been Moving Through Town Hall All Year. Here's Where It Stands.

If you've been watching that big empty stretch at the northeast corner of I-35W and FM 407 in Argyle, you're not alone. A 141-acre project called the Heath Tract has been working through the approval process all year — and right now, it's parked.

Argyle Town Council tabled the zoning change that would allow commercial development on the Heath Tract at the March 23 meeting. The reason wasn't opposition. The item was tabled at the applicant's request so that town staff and the applicant could continue working through remaining details. The item was set to come back at the April 20 regular council meeting. No zoning ordinance for the Heath Tract appears in Argyle's public ordinance records since then.

So what's actually proposed here? A lot more than a grocery store.

If approved, the zoning change would allow a warehouse grocery store — think Sam's Club, Costco, or BJ's — along with full-service hotels, retail spaces, minor motor vehicle repair shops, convenience stores with gas, self-service car washes, medical and urgent care clinics, drive-thru restaurants, and office buildings. No specific tenant has been publicly confirmed. The plan also sets aside 36 acres of hike and bike trails, potentially extending to the corner of Sam Davis Road and I-35W.

The financial case for Argyle is straightforward. Town Manager Mike Sims said the development could generate $4 million in sales tax revenue annually, with the town expecting commercial sales tax to become the dominant source of revenue relative to property taxes.

Traffic on FM 407 is the other thing Argyle residents know all too well, and the plan addresses it. The proposal includes a roundabout to keep traffic out of the residential neighborhood along Sam Davis Road, and road connections from Argyle ISD schools would let school traffic route through the development to frontage roads along I-35W. At full buildout, the project is projected to bring in 26,052 daily weekday trips, according to town documents.

Here's where the process stands. The Argyle Planning and Zoning Commission approved the zoning change with several conditions at the March 4 meeting — among them, a requirement that any full-service hotel meet an upscale standard: guests would need access to room service, a full-service restaurant serving all three meals from a proper menu, and the property would need to offer at least 5,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space. Council tabled the item three weeks later, and the applicant and town staff have been working through the remaining details.

Argyle's ordinance records show no Heath Tract zoning ordinance passed as of this writing. The town's Community Development page still lists the Heath Tract Planned Development Summary as an active document. To track when a council vote gets scheduled, check the agenda at argyletx.com before the third Monday of any month. Argyle Town Council holds regular meetings on the third Monday of each month — or the following Tuesday when a holiday falls on a Monday — typically kicking off at 5:00 p.m. inside Argyle Town Hall, located at 308 Denton St.