Southern Land Company, along with the McKinney Performing Arts Center, is kicking off a cultural initiative that will offer live music and related arts to the general public free of charge. Arts on the Lawn, a series of outdoor concerts, art shows and family-friendly activities begins on August 31 with a live performance at Tucker Hill – Southern Land Company’s mixed-use community on Highway 380 west of U.S. 75.

The featured artist will be Lantana, a local country music trio that has become widely popular among music fans of all ages.

North McKinney has a 60.3-month supply of lots, with 1,060 lots, and an annual start rate of about 211.

In the Tucker Hill masterplanned community, there will be more than 2,000 homes on 800 acres in McKinney, said Brian Sewell, executive vice president of community development for Franklin, Tenn.-based Southern Land Co., the developer of the new subdivision. Currently there are about 20 finished houses and 25 under construction, he said. Ten have been sold. The entire development is expected to be completed in 2015 or 2016, a projection that has shifted in response to recent downturns in housing.

Across Dallas' many post-World War II neighborhoods, the ranch and tract home dominate. With houses set back from the street and garages the likely entryway, the question is: Where are the people?

That's what Massachusetts Institute of Technology classmates Bill Gietema and John Hodge asked when the two presidents of Arcadia Realty Corp. originally pitched the idea for front-porch projects.

Nashville-based Southern Land Co. has entered the world of corporate blogging in a different way.

The company has hired a reporter to write about the real estate market and housing trends on a separate Web site from its own. The site address is www.whatsforreal.com.

Classic communities serve as models for homes

There aren’t any floats, marching bands, or baton twirlers, but this year’s edition of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas’ Spring Parade of Homes has North Texas residents flocking to McKinney to see the eight featured homes within the new Tucker Hill community.

While previous editions of the parade have been spare-no-expense showcases of the latest and most impressive new home trends and features, this year’s parade has been toned down. Parade-goers won’t see the extravagant fireman’s poles coming out of the ceiling or a two-story garage with a hydraulic car lift like in previous years.

People will get the chance to see the various styles of homes featured in Tucker Hill during a parade of homes that will begin this Saturday and last through June 8, and will feature skydiving demonstrations and musical performances.

Located north of US 380 between Custer Road and Lake Forest Drive in the Prosper ISD, Tucker Hill is a master planned community located at 7270 West University Drive, where there are currently about 30 newly built homes that are for sale.

Tucker Hill will ultimately have 2,200 homes when it is completely built out. Eight home styles will be featured in the parade of homes, which will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays with the exception of Memorial Day. The parade of homes will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. an assortment of events will be featured each Saturday and Sunday.

Tucker Hill, a Southern Land Company community, will host the 2008 Parade of Homes™ beginning May 17, 2008 and continuing through June 8, 2008. Tucker Hill is a traditional neighborhood now under development on Highway 380 in McKinney.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of North Texas – an organization that helps children with life-threatening medical conditions experience their greatest wish – and HomeAid/Home Builders Care – a non-profit created by the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas dedicated to fighting homelessness – are again the charitable beneficiaries of this year’s Parade.

Multiple homes in various stages of construction dot the more than 700 acres Southern Land Company -- a company that has completed or is in the process of developing 17 communities with a total investment value of $1.7 billion -- has procured on Hwy 380 just east of Stonebridge Dr. SLC calls the development Tucker Hill and come Saturday, several homes will be open for public viewing.

Tucker Hill, McKinney’s newest traditional neighborhood, will be giving Greater Goodies – chocolate truffles hand made by residents of the inn – to prospective home owners in an effort to support the Samaritan Inn, Collin County’s only homeless shelter.

Southern Land Company, the developer of Tucker Hill, has partnered with the Samaritan as part of a larger initiative to raise awareness of issues surrounding homelessness in Collin County. Tucker Hill purchases the chocolate from the Samaritan Inn and sends it to people who tour the models. The money made helps support the vocational training program at the Samaritan Inn, which teaches job skills to residents of the shelter.

In this edition of the NAI Nashville Market Report podcast, I spoke with Timothy Downey the President and CEO of the Southern Land Company about their new mixed-use development in the Cool Springs area called McEwen.