Terra Nova community to bring thousands of single-family homes, apartments plus commercial space to Terrell’s expanding landscape
A newly formed development firm is pitching a massive community in fast- growing Kaufman County.
Main Square Development seeks to develop a 1,531-acre master planned community in Terrell along Griffith Road and FM 245. The Terra Nova community will feature approximately 2,400 detached homes, 270 attached units, roughly 1,200 multifamily units, about 112 acres of commercial space and about 145 acres of parks and trails.
Lots will span a minimum of 50 feet and average about $110,000. Home prices will start at about $400,000 and go up to about $1.2 million, said Hugo Morales, president of Plano-based Main Square. The community will also feature a roughly 50-acre downtown center called Terra Nova Village.
The company also plans to invest about $110 million into major thoroughfares and trails as well as $24 million in new park investment.
Construction on the first phase of the project could start later this year and will focus on the residential piece of the development along Griffith Road. The community is anticipated to be a 14- to 16-phase buildout.
“We need the roofs to support the commercial area, so our last phase [will be] mixed-use, high-density [construction] towards the north of the project because those need the roofs in order to survive,” Morales said. “We’re starting on the residential piece first. Now if anybody’s interested in the multifamily tract, then we can bring the utility to that. We wouldn’t mind doing that.” Main Square aims to position itself to capture the massive growth happening in Terrell and Kaufman County overall. Other projects include a new Terrell State
Hospital building, a potential 282-acre industrial development by Dallas-based Hunt Consolidated, and a 933,656-square-foot distribution center developed by Seefried Industrial Properties Inc. — a company well-known for developing Amazon industrial sites.
Main Square noticed a lot of development activity pushing toward the north, causing land prices to rise beyond feasibility, so it turned its attention to the growth happening in the east.
“We see good demand toward the east. Terrell, although it’s very close to DFW, it’s a little bit detached where you can have this suburban, small town feeling very close to DFW,” Morales said. “We feel that there’s a lot of growth heading in that direction, so we’re positioning ourselves for that.”
Terra Nova is Main Square’s first project since it was established early last year. Coming out of a two-decade tenure with Kimley Horn, Morales saw an opportunity to leverage his relationship with government officials and developers into what he saw as a new challenge.
The firm wants to develop more master-planned communities. It currently owns about 1,110 acres in Cedar Hill and is exploring other tracts of land in Royse City and Sherman. “We plan on being master planners. Our plan is to develop communities,” Morales said. “Right now, we have plenty of land to keep us busy for a few years.”
Original version appears in the Dallas Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2025/08/30/1-500-acre-terra-nova-green-light-planning-zoning.html