Lake Highlands Dallas: This Summer's News Beyond Town Center

Lake Highlands Town Center sits at the corner of Skillman and Walnut Hill. Other projects and businesses discussed here show different forms of development in Lake Highlands.

Lake Highlands Town Center

Lake Highlands Town Center was supposed to be the neighborhood's downtown. Then-City Council member Bill Blaydes pitched it in 2004: a mixed-use development anchored by a DART Blue Line stop, built where a cluster of aging apartment complexes stood at Skillman and what is now Walnut Hill Lane. The city created the Skillman Corridor TIF to fund it, eventually dedicating $40 million in tax-increment financing to the project alone. DART kicked in $10 million for the rail station. The city added a $13.4 million HUD loan. Dallas voters approved bond funds on top of that.

Construction stalled during the recession, and an ownership dispute between the original developers kept the project frozen for close to eight years. For most of the time since, the site's one finished building was an apartment complex called Haven. A full retail phase gained traction in the 2020s.

Town Center is one part of Lake Highlands' development story. For a closer look at the parks and trail network, we've written about how residents spend their weekends around Lake Highlands. Retail and dining activity is also taking place elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Unimarket and Lake Highlands' dining scene

Esneyder and Richard Ospina spent 16 years building Unimarket into a fixture of the Calgary food scene before bringing it south. Their first U.S. location is in Lake Highlands: a market, cafe, and grill stocked with roughly 650 items sourced from across Latin America. The Dallas Observer reported their view that North Texas has many Mexican food options and fewer South American offerings.

Other Lake Highlands businesses offer examples of the area's restaurant mix. Cane Rosso planted a location on Skillman years ago. Resident Taqueria, led by chef Andrew Savoie, built its menu around fresh tortillas and slow-braised meats. Cedar & Vine describes itself simply as being of East Dallas and Lake Highlands, not adjacent to it. Goldie's, the moody diner-turned-supper-club that opened at Walnut Hill and Audelia in the former RM 12:20 space, came from local restaurant veterans Brandon Hays and Brittni Clayton.

A private club and a townhome development

The largest bet on Lake Highlands this year isn't retail at all. Nick Clark, the founder of Common Desk, and his partner Dawson Williams are building a $36 million family-oriented private club inside a 50,000-square-foot former office building on Northwest Highway, between Ferndale and Plano roads. As Clark put it to D Magazine when the project was announced last summer, the city has essentially one country club with a nursery, and he thinks that gap is worth $36 million to close. The club had raised $7 million before spending a dollar on marketing, and is now working to close an additional $29 million to finish the build, with doors expected to open in the spring of 2027.

Around the same time, homebuilder Mattamy Homes broke ground in March on Lake Highlands Village, an 85-unit gated townhome community with a central park, a dog park, and walking trails, positioned near existing shops and restaurants. Mattamy's own framing, from its March announcement, leaned on exactly what already exists here: strong schools, established parks, and quick access to the places people already go.

A Lake Highlands tradition

Lake Highlands also has longstanding traditions. The Hot Trot Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K returns for its ninth year on Saturday, August 22, starting at Norbuck Park and finishing with a lakeside after-party. It's run in memory of fallen Richardson police officer David Sherrard, with proceeds benefiting the Assist the Officer Foundation. A few practical notes for anyone planning around it:

• Race day starts at 6:30 a.m. at Norbuck Park, 200 N. Buckner
• Parking is staged at Flag Pole Hill Park
• All three timed distances are USATF certified and run along White Rock Lake
• An untimed one-mile Memory Mile is open to all ages

The race is one longstanding part of neighborhood life, alongside the newer projects discussed here.

The takeaway for anyone paying attention

The lesson from this stretch of northeast Dallas is how different projects are taking shape. In Lake Highlands, examples include a market with products from across Latin America, a family-oriented private club, and a townhome community near existing shops and restaurants. Town Center is another part of that development story, with a different timeline and approach.

If you're watching Lake Highlands and trying to understand where the neighborhood is headed, follow the area's plans alongside the local projects underway.

For a closer look at how these shifts show up in property values, inventory, and what's actually for sale in Lake Highlands right now, Anthony Cedano and the Anthony Cedano Real Estate Group track this market daily. Reach out anytime for a complimentary home valuation or a straight conversation about what's changing on your block.