The Mesquite City Council has given developer Mehrdad Moayedi and his Farmers Branch company Centurion American Development Group the thumbs-up to build the city’s largest new home project in years, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Slated to break ground in March or April 2018, the 800-acre Polo Ridge Ranch project will include more than 1,000 upscale homes, large greenspaces, amenities, and possibly polo fields and horse barns. Moayedi is trying to attract an equestrian operation that will build a facility in the development.

Located south of Interstate 20 near the Trinity River, land for the new development is in Mesquite’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in neighboring Kaufman County, which fits the city’s growth plan to expand further into its ETJs. 

Moayedi agreed to have Polo Ridge annexed into the City of Mesquite. In turn, the City approved a new public improvement district to fund part of the development’s infrastructure. 

Though many of Kaufman County’s new residential communities are geared for moderately-priced houses, large high-end homes will be part of the mix at Polo Ridge. The development will include some 1-acre lots and houses will go for as high as $700,000, Moayedi told the News. 

While homes will be built in multiple phases, over 200 houses in the first phase will be constructed around two small lakes off FM 2757.

“It's the style of development we are hoping to see all along the I-20 corridor," Mesquite City Manager Cliff Keheley told the News. “That's where we see our future residential potential. We've had slow residential development for years, and we are excited to see this project." 

Besides redeveloping the Statler Hotel in Downtown Dallas, Moayedi is developing the University Hills project on I-20 in southern Dallas near the University of North Texas campus. He also just purchased the former Tom Hicks mansion in North Dallas, which he plans to use as the dominant structure for a new boutique luxury home development.