In what seems to be a counterintuitive move, Addison recently announced a $240 million mixed-use project centered around its new DART station on the upcoming Silver Line. At a time when cities like Plano, Irving and others have been pushing to cut funding from the regional mass transit system, Addison's investment signals strong support, but also an understanding of Addison's identity in North Texas.

Granted, there are no two cities alike, and Plano's needs are much different from a smaller town's like Addison. Still, this transit-oriented development is a smart move for a city that has built a reputation as a business hub, with its burgeoning restaurant scene and for attracting visitors from all over North Texas for popular events like Fourth of July's Kaboom Town!, Taste Addison and their Oktoberfest festival.

Addison officials were already thinking about mass transit in the 1980s when they bought land around the rail corridor. In 2019, the town adopted the Addison Circle Special Area Study to guide development around the Silver Line station, which will begin operations next month.

In our region, it is not uncommon for long-term goals to be placed on the backburner in favor of short-term needs. Kudos to Addison's leadership for sticking with their vision. While mass transit use is not what we expected in 2025, North Texas's population is still growing, along with busier traffic patterns. This is a bet on the future.

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The Addison Junction project will feature an office building, a 140-room boutique hotel, 30,000 square feet of entertainment space, and a 12,000-square-foot event venue named "The Hangar." Groundbreaking is expected in 2026. Quadrant Investment Properties will invest $200 million in the development, while Addison will shoulder the remaining $40 million.

In contrast with other cities, Addison has only about 17,000 residents, mostly young renters, but its population swells to 125,000 during the day, centered around its businesses. Keeping office space attractive is part of Addison's reasoning behind this project. The new development will be built around an area with high walkability, close to biking and hiking trails.

City governments should consider keeping their office space attractive to businesses. Wayne Emerson, director of economic development, told us that companies are not as sensitive to their rental costs if that means offsetting their costs for employee training and retention.

"What we're seeing is a real flight to quality," he told us.

In a few weeks, the long-awaited Silver Line will connect Plano, Richardson, Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell and Grapevine with DFW International Airport along a 26-mile stretch.

Developments like Addison Junction will add value to the Silver Line. We need more places to gather around mass transit. Unfortunately, this is not the norm.

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Addison is poised to take advantage of the Silver Line