By Taylor Williams If you build it, they will come — assuming “it” is equipped with the all the facilities, necessities and conveniences of 21st-century living. As residents and consumers, it is remarkably easy to overlook the critical pieces of infrastructure that enable these necessities and conveniences. From the perspective of end users, these facilities and systems are not instrumental to the success of commercial and residential developments because they are taken for granted as minimal requirements for occupancy. Further, in many cases, the infrastructure is not visible to the naked eye. Yet for developers, particularly those in high-growth regions like North Texas, infrastructure is anything but an afterthought. “In the eyes of developers, infrastructure is a primary aspect of any project,” says Jack Turnage, development manager at Wildcatter Realty Partners, the developer behind The Greenbelt, a 325-acre mixed-use project in Hunt County. “Without that, the only way to navigate our site is on horseback.” Located in Greenville on the northeastern outskirts of Dallas, The Greenbelt is one of numerous large-scale mixed-use projects sprouting up in the region. Plans call for close to 1,000 single-family and multifamily units; several hundred thousand square feet of commercial space; numerous restaurant pad sites; …
