JOSEPHINE, Texas – For the members of one of North Texas’ largest mosques, the 402-acre tract of land that straddles Collin and Hunt counties is the start of a dream.
The East Plano Islamic Center’s members hope the dream will materialize in EPIC City – a development of more than 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, a mosque, elderly and assisted living, apartments, clinics, retail shops, a community college and sports fields just outside the town of Josephine, about 40 minutes northeast of downtown Dallas.
“EPIC City is going to be a role model community of thousands of Muslims living well-integrated,” Yasir Qadhi, resident scholar at the East Plano Islamic Center, said while giving an update on the projects at EPIC this month.
“We are not forming a cult. We’re not forming big barriers between the rest of society,” he said. “We’re going to be giving back to this state and this country, and we’re going to be showing what it means to be a Muslim neighborhood.”
The dream is growing — but also facing questions from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and commenters on social media.
Qadhi announced via video on Feb. 12 plans for EPIC Ranches One and Two on 200 acres nearby. His two-minute video received about 1.5 million views, according to X, and almost 2,000 comments. Community Capital Partners, the group created by the mosque to manage the EPIC City project, said it received dozens of hateful calls and messages.
Dozens of commenters suggested the project’s organizers don’t belong in the U.S. Several commenters tagged Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, asking them to shut the development down.
On Monday, Abbott posted on X: “To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are ‘no go zones’ which this project seems to imply. Bottom line: The project as proposed in the video is not allowed in Texas.”
When reached by phone Monday, Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris asked The Dallas Morning News to email a request for comment. The News emailed several questions and is awaiting a response.
Earlier this month, some on social media also accused the community of instituting “Sharia,” or Islamic, law. “An Islamic developer in Texas is making a Sharia-compliant Islamic community,” posted Laura Loomer, a political activist who once called herself a “proud Islamophobe” and referred to the religion as a “cancer on humanity.”
“How are the Republicans in Texas allowing this to happen?” she said.
Qadhi told The News the only laws the community will enforce will be Texas and federal ones, and they are not seeking to impose religion on anyone.
A message on the developer’s website appeared to lay out who is eligible to purchase lots in the community.
“Realizing that many responsible citizens of other countries might be interested in our properties, our offering is open to any person we approve within the property and investment laws of the United States,” according to the project’s website. “[W]e will limit sales to only persons we believe will contribute to the overall makeup of our community and are legally eligible to invest and buy property in the United States.”
After receiving questions from The News, Community Capital Partners said Monday it was changing the wording of the message so it “more accurately communicates our intent.”
The message now reads: “Our vision is to build a diverse and inclusive community — one in which people of every background, faith, and culture can live together in harmony. We will uphold the safety and well-being of our neighbors at every step of development, starting with thorough individualized assessments of prospective buyers to ensure they align with our goals of safety and security. We look forward to working together to foster mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration as our project moves forward.”
Community Capital Partners also said it would adhere to the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits the denial of housing to a person based on their religion and other protected classes. The organization “will not enforce blanket bans on any group of people, but we will conduct thorough individualized assessments of prospective buyers to ensure they align with our goals of safety and security.”
Qadhi told The News the community is open to anyone, regardless of religion.
“If certain people want to live in a community where there is a faith-based mosque or temple or synagogue that’s walking distance — why should they not be allowed that freedom?” Qadhi said, emphasizing many Muslims pray five times a day, making it a priority to have a mosque close by.
Qadhi said he has dealt with slurs, death threats and anti-Muslim hatred often in his 25 years as a preacher. Those who oppose the development misunderstand its purpose, he said.
“We’re not building an exclusive community: Our main focus is actually family and not faith,” he said.
“People don’t understand the amount of hatred that we’ve gotten – ‘Go back home,’ and ‘We don’t want Muslims here,’” Qadhi said. “I’m sorry, I was born in Houston, Texas. You want me to go back to Houston? I don’t mind, but I prefer Dallas.”
Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the D-FW office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the backlash against EPIC City didn’t surprise him. “We always have this low-grade Islamophobia that just ebbs and tides as time goes on,” Carroll said.
The planned developments
The EPIC developments are located in unincorporated portions of Collin and Hunt counties, near one of the fastest-growing places in America — Josephine.
The town’s population grew from just over 2,100 in 2000 to more than 7,000 in 2023, a 234% increase. Only Westlake, Fla., and Jacksonburg Village, Ohio, saw a higher growth rate, according to U.S. Census population estimates for incorporated places.
Developers targeting the area were ahead of planners, city administrator Lisa Palomba told The Dallas Morning News in 2022. In an interviewlast week, she said city infrastructure is catching up, but the fast growth continues.
“The growth rate is quite phenomenal,” she said.
In 2014, only 28 newly built homes were sold to buyers. By 2022, there were 699 sales.
The EPIC City and EPIC Ranches developments are part of that trend. Some membersof the East Plano Islamic Center formed Community Capital Partners LP, the for-profit entity managing the EPIC City project, last year.
Imran Chaudhary, the firm’s executive officer and director, previously served as president of the East Plano Islamic Center’s board of directors.
On the mosque’s website, Jawaid Isa is listed as president of the mosque’s board. When reached for comment, Isa referred questions to current board president Abdullah Shegow. Shegow did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The News emailed the board of the mosque, and the board directed inquiries to Chaudhary and Community Capital Partners LP.
Qadhi, who has almost 700,000 followers on X, said in a Feb. 12 video that EPIC City investors reserved more than 500 lots within days of their public launch last year.
To reserve lots, investors must buy an $80,000 share of Community Capital Partners, money that will be credited to the purchase of a home lot, Chaudhary said.
Community Capital Partners plans to build the community’s mosque and the private school, collaborating with the Islamic Center as needed. The Islamic Center will receive any and all profits from the development, Chaudhary said.
Community Capital Partners will not be paid for its work, he said. The group’s leadership is made up of volunteers, he said.
Epic Ranches One features 70 lots spanning one acre or larger. The largest home lots are five acres, and prices for the land range from $325,000 to $500,000. The 110-acre development is about half a mile from EPIC City, Chaudhary said.
Epic Ranches Two offers 60 half-acre home lots and 27 townhome lots. The half-acre lots range from $167,000 to $395,000, and townhome lots range from $400,000 to $560,000. Four, five or six townhomes can be built on each lot. The 90-acre development is located less than a mile from EPIC City, Chaudhary said.
To reserve a lot in EPIC Ranches, investors must pay $30,000 in earnest money.
The lot prices are high for the area, according to MLS listings. The asking price for a 2,700-square-foot home built in 2007 on a 2.65-acre lot in the vicinity is about $280,000.
Residents react
EPIC City’s land is surrounded by farms, ranches and country homes with big backyards that rarely see traffic along the area’s narrow gravel road.
Residents who live near the planned development told The News they didn’t learn about plans from the mosque or development group directly. Instead, they learned about the plans on social media.
Their biggest concern isn’t the religion of their new neighbors, but changes for the quiet farmland around them, they said. They worry about how the pot-holed country roads will handle thousands of newcomers. They worry about the wildlife they watch from their porches. They worry about the constant construction noise. They worry the large developments will put a strain on their rural hamlet.
Few have seen that area change as much as a resident named Greg Abbott.
Not to be mistaken for the governor of Texas, this 62-year-old has spent his entire life in and around Josephine. His grandparents ran a grocery store in downtown Josephine. There were about 125 people in Josephine when he was growing up.
His family has called it home for the past two centuries. He never imagined Josephine would look the way it does now. His property directly borders the plot EPIC City plans to build on.
“The little town we know is gone, and that’s fine,” Abbott said. “Progress is coming; I’m OK with that. … But they have to address infrastructure, and they have to address how you’re going to get cars in and out of here.”
Erika Vaeth and Walter Beard, who live a few houses down, said EPIC City is a “sore subject.”
Vaeth said the couple purchased their land a few years ago and finished building their house in 2023. They wanted country living and moved to the area after school construction in Forney became too much.
Just a few months after finishing their dream home, they learned the area they’d chosen was changing. “I’d have no ill feelings towards the group of people that are moving out here. I’m sure they’re great,” Vaeth said. “But we weren’t planning on living out here with — God knows how many houses will go there, and across the street from us.”
The couple worries they won’t get the money back they spent on the land and building the new home. “I hope that when the time comes, that somebody will want our land, and we’ll sell everything,” Vaeth said.
Abbott and his wife, Lori, said they plan to move out of the neighborhood.
If they’re going to have to deal with daily traffic, the couple said they would rather have the perks of city living, like restaurants, golf courses and shopping malls.
As they think about moving, the Abbotts said EPIC City has brought some upsides in the form of increased property values. They estimate their property value has at least doubled since EPIC City was announced.
“There’s people that have been here their whole life that are not wealthy at all, but they’re sitting in a very prime location up in town that probably will allow them to retire and enjoy the rest of their lives,” Abbott said. “I’ve got mixed emotions with it, but I’m not upset with the Muslims. They’ve got every right to do what they want to.”
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
