TJ Gilmore, Mayor, City of Lewisville
Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore spoke with Invest: about how the city’s geographic location has provided numerous avenues of growth, which has resulted in continued economic prosperity. In prioritizing the city’s infrastructure, Gilmore is preparing Lewisville to meet this newfound growth head-on.
What are your immediate priorities for Lewisville, and how is the city working to balance growth with quality of life?
My staff and I are dedicated to working on four key areas: transportation, childcare, affordability, and education. We prioritize making sure our residents have opportunities to improve themselves by obtaining additional skills and earning certifications to become more valuable within the workforce. These four pillars help build a strong community and a strong workforce within a municipality, which attracts strong businesses to our city. That way we don’t have to play games with economic incentives; instead, we are constructing a strong foundation on top of which businesses can grow.
How is the city working with Denton County officials to promote economic growth and a thriving business environment?
We work closely with the county, and I have great relationships with our county commissioners. Because Denton County is growing at a rate of nearly 90 new residents per day, we need to figure out ways to provide a stable infrastructure for our residents, namely through maintenance of our roads, water, and sewer. We need a strong infrastructure as we continue growing, so we work closely with the county on economic development opportunities and redevelopment opportunities. A current project we are undertaking with the county involves a transit-oriented development in Lewisville, and there are also discussions about transit-oriented development in the city of Denton along our rail corridor. Our goal is to provide a diversity of housing and transportation options for our residents, which will contribute to a healthy work-life balance.
How is the city working to enhance its appeal as a destination for new residents?
The No. 1 advantage Lewisville has in North Texas for creating an excellent place to live and work has always been our location. When reviewing growth and residential data, we are seated at the center of the metroplex. Lewisville is less than 12 minutes away from DFW Airport. Operating from a great location is a fantastic place to start from. We also have two major freeways crossing through Lewisville, so transit and transportation are important to us.
When thinking about creating an urban environment, we need to ensure that Lewisville is an exceptional place both for employers to set up shop and for people to live in. This is accomplished through several initiatives, one of which involves building and buying more park space – our goal is for everyone who lives in the city to live within a 10-minute walk from a park or green space. We have heavily invested in our Old Town area to create a destination with a modern feel that retains a vintage appeal. Lewisville also has great communities and schools for people to raise families. Flexibility of green space, innovative housing opportunities, and creative redevelopment are our main priorities.
What industries stimulate the most growth in Lewisville today?
Lewisville has a diverse portfolio of business types, and this is one of the things that make us so successful. If any one sector experiences a downturn, our other sectors tend to compensate for any loss. Tech is driving a large chunk of our economy. We have a major data center going in for Wells Fargo that should be online this year, as well as a major software development company that is working on AI for vehicles like long-haul trucking. Lewisville is also home to one of Mary Kay’s two manufacturing facilities in the world – the other factory is in China. Sysco food services and distribution is also located in Lewisville, which is especially convenient because we are so centrally located and have convenient access. We find that distribution companies have created a home or regional hub in our town because the location makes sense logistically.
What are the primary challenges for Lewisville?
An ever-present challenge seems to be balancing the tone and tenor of the town’s history with new growth, without eliminating what makes Lewisville unique. I think this is accomplished through having honest conversations without simply giving things away to businesses and without understanding how these companies operate before determining what may be a good fit.
We are currently building out class-A office space, which is not a huge market right now, but we know we have amazing homes and neighborhoods, so business owners and operators are going to want to have that ability to live and work in a similar place. Being able to have that space in Lewisville has helped to create this balance.
We had over $725 million worth of new investment in properties last year. That includes the construction of new corporations, distribution centers, multifamily and single-family homes. That amount is about three times our historical growth, so this is a massive metric. The other aspect that helps us to balance this is that our community is stable politically. We also spend a significant amount of time not only creating development plans, but also in intentionally implementing those plans.
What is your outlook for Lewisville over the next two to three years?
I would love to have a facility ready to go for our Texas State Technical College campus, which was recently approved by the state. This will be a great opportunity for educational uplift, not only for Lewisville, but for our entire region. Additionally, we have determined great ways to create different types of unique spaces within the city that we call “design hubs,” like revitalization of The Vista mall and portions of our Northern Gateway. These mixed-use spaces that help people connect are the future of cities, and these places are poised to act essentially as smaller communities within Lewisville.
