Discovery Land Co. plans a 1,100-acre gated community in Fort Worth featuring three golf courses by Tom Fazio.
FORT WORTH, Texas — This story was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. Read the original version here.
A luxury real estate developer plans to turn former ranch land into a massive, gated residential community that will feature three golf courses designed by a world-renowned golf architect.
Arizona-based Discovery Land Co. is creating a 1,100-acre development in west Fort Worth called Maverick Golf and Ranch Club. It will feature nearly 500 homes with an 18-hole championship golf course, a 12-hole executive course and a nine-hole, par-three course, all designed by Tom Fazio. Fazio has been awarded the Old Tom Morris Award, the highest recognition from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Discovery is working with PMB Capital Investments LLC, the firm behind the 5,200-acre Veale Ranch development in west Fort Worth, which includes a 492-acre master planned community called Ventana.
Leaders at Discovery recently provided Dallas Business Journal with new details about the progress and vision for Maverick.
Steven Spieth, Discovery’s director of sales at the property, said the company started work on roads and infrastructure for the first phase of the project in October. This initial phase will include 136 lots: 100 custom estate lots and 36 “golf cottages” built by a developer.
Discovery develops members-only residential communities and resorts worldwide. It’s responsible for the 525-acre Vaquero community of million-dollar homes in Westlake, which also features a golf course designed by Fazio. In Central Texas, Discovery developed the 800-acre Driftwood Golf and Ranch Club, also with a Fazio course, and the company recently broke ground on Austin Surf Club, a live-and-play community in partnership with pro surfer Kelly Slater.
Dallas-Fort Worth has the third highest number of Discovery members in the country, Spieth said.
Maverick will boast an abundance of amenities such as a clubhouse, spa, fitness center, kids adventure center, family water park, field house, sports complex and hiking and biking trails. The club will also feature an organic farm for members to learn about sustainable living and nature. Discovery already built out its first amenity, a campground with a two-story treehouse bar, barn clubhouse and BB gun range, among other features.
Spieth said the goal is to create an experience-centered community that is safe for families.
“The ethos of Discovery is … it’s an experience like no other,” he said.
So far, more than 70 families have signed up to buy a lot in the first phase, said Alex Flink, a principal at Discovery. He expects the par-three golf course will finished this fall. By the time the 18-hole course is finished in fall 2026, the first set of houses should be under construction.
This area outside Fort Worth will see another high-end community planned by BlueJack National, a 914-acre residential community with a golf course designed by golf legend Tiger Woods. Flink sees that as a sign of demand.
When the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020, Flink said he saw an increased amount of people looking for open space, including at Driftwood Golf and Ranch Club. Veale Ranch represents one of the last frontiers of open space and development in and around Fort Worth, he said. But it’s also not too far from the city. It takes about 20 minutes to get to downtown Fort Worth from the property.
“You feel like you’re kind of really isolated, which some people like and they’re actually seeking,” he said. “But I think for us, as we look at being closer to these growing metroplexes, having the ability to scoot back into town to do something is really important. It makes people feel like there’s greater utility to this.”
