Specialty Grocer Anchors 70-Acre Town Center Planned at I-30 and John King

The last big undeveloped corner where Interstate 30 meets John King Boulevard could become one of Rockwall's largest shopping and gathering places. The Rockwall Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 27 recommended approval of a zoning change for "Rockwall District." The town center would cover roughly 70 acres at the northwest corner of the intersection and would be anchored by what its developer calls a high-end specialty grocer.

The request now goes to the Rockwall City Council on Nov. 2. If council approves it, the land would change from its current light industrial and commercial zoning to a planned development district. That district would lock in the site's layout, its permitted uses, and a long list of open-space commitments the developer has made over several months of hearings.

The commission's vote came at the end of a long public hearing. The developer's team walked commissioners through new renderings, and commissioners pressed them on phasing, detention ponds and how much of what they were seeing would actually get built. The chairman described the result as "essentially unanimous," with one commissioner absent.