The Marco in Prosper: Italian Village, Lagoon and 4,400 Homes (November 2026)

Prosper Town Hall at 250 W. First Street, photographed August 19, 2026. The Town Council unanimously approved zoning for The Marco on October 27, 2026. This is not a rendering of The Marco, which has not broken ground. Photo by Ranch9613, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 public domain dedication, cropped to fit. Original file: Front Prosper Town Hall.jpg.

An Italian-inspired village with a lagoon, canals and as many as 4,400 homes is no longer just a proposal on a Planning and Zoning agenda. Local Profile first reported the plan in August 2026, when commissioners sent The Marco to Town Council. On October 27, the council unanimously approved rezoning and a planned development for the 143-acre site at the northeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. 380.

That vote is a real milestone, and it is not the same thing as a construction start. Four development agreements still have to come back to council. The land sale has not closed, according to later reporting. The developer has said lagoon and site work could begin in late 2027 if those pieces fall into place. This November 2026 guide lays out what has been approved, what is still unsettled, and what the project could mean for buyers and sellers in Prosper.

Key Takeaways

• Zoning is approved, but dirt work is not underway. Prosper Town Council voted unanimously on October 27, 2026, to approve rezoning and a planned development for The Marco. The Town of Prosper confirmed the action the next day.
• The site is 143 acres at the Tollway and U.S. 380. Blackard Companies is the developer named in the town's release. Local Profile earlier referred to the firm as BlackStone Communities. Principal Jeffory Blackard, also called Jeff Blackard, is the same developer behind Adriatica Village in McKinney.
• Plans allow up to 4,400 residential units and a roughly 15-acre lagoon. The cap includes a firm 2,500-unit limit on mid-rise apartments. Later coverage describes the lagoon as about 15.5 acres, and it would also serve as regional stormwater detention. No homes may open until the lagoon is finished.
• A lot is still not settled. Council still needs to approve agreements on economic incentives, building standards, impact fee waivers, and parks and open space, ideally by the end of 2026, town staff has said. A project representative has estimated a $2 billion investment; that figure has not been independently audited here. Construction in late 2027 is a developer target, not a guarantee.
• Prosper's existing housing market is already expensive, and it has cooled. Redfin put the median sale price at $821,429 for the three months ending October 2026, down 5.0% from a year earlier, with a median of 116 days on market. NTREIS closed-sale figures for the 12 months from November 2025 through October 2026 show a $827,500 median.

Where The Marco Would Sit

The Marco is planned for the northeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. 380 in Prosper, on the Collin County side of that interchange. In August, Blackard told the Planning and Zoning Commission it was "the best piece of undeveloped real estate, maybe in the world," Local Profile reported.

The approved zoning creates a mixed-use district, not a conventional single-family subdivision. According to the town and to Community Impact, the hard corner along the Tollway and U.S. 380 is reserved for employment, retail and hospitality, including more than 1 million square feet of Class A office space and as many as two corporate campuses. Taller office buildings, reported at up to 14 stories in earlier coverage cited by Community Impact, would sit on the outer edge and are intended to buffer road noise from the interior village.

The village core would wrap around the lagoon. The northwest portion of the site is planned for a market square, a grocery store and lower-intensity housing such as villas and townhomes. Mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings are planned mainly on the eastern side.

This is highway-frontage land, not a quiet interior neighborhood. Traffic and the future mix of offices, hotels and apartments will shape daily life there as much as the lagoon views.

How the Project Got to Yes

The path from first hearing to a council vote was short, and it was not automatic.

Local Profile's August story, which is the article that prompted this post, correctly described the project as proposed and already through Planning and Zoning. The later council delay and the October approval are the updates that matter now.

After the August hearing, the plan was tightened. Community Impact reported that mid-rise and high-rise multifamily housing was prohibited in certain parts of the site; the lagoon must be finished before any residential units can open; after the first 1,000 mid-rise apartments, the developer must build at least 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space before more of those units can open; and every apartment building is required to have open space and a pet area. Town Manager Mario Canizares called it "the biggest in the town's history" and said officials wanted to get it right. Mayor David Bristol and town development and economic-development officials endorsed the project in the October 28 release.

The Lagoon, the Canals and the Village Core

The visual hook is the water, and the zoning treats that water as infrastructure, not only as an amenity.

Local Profile described a lagoon of more than 15 acres, ringed by a 26-foot-wide pedestrian promenade called a passeggiata, with limited vehicle access and most parking pushed to the outer edges. Community Impact later put the lagoon at 15.5 acres in the conceptual plans. The town's own release called it a central 15-acre navigable lagoon and canal system. Those figures are close, but they are not identical, so it is fairest to say the lagoon is planned at about 15 to 15.5 acres. The canals are described as large enough for boats.

The lagoon would also serve as regional stormwater detention. That dual use is one reason the town required it to be completed before homes can open.

Around the water, the plans call for a village core with a public square, ground-floor retail, a market hall, entertainment space, a performing arts venue and up to two waterfront hotels, one on the west edge of the lagoon and one on the east. Those uses are allowed under the approved zoning. They are not built, and some of them are not locked in.

The performing arts venue is a good example. Blackard has said he hopes to work with Prosper ISD, whose voters approved $125 million for a performing arts center in the district's 2023 bond, on a theater that could serve school events and professional performances. Community Impact reported that, as of September 2026, he had not finalized any plans with the district. Until there is a signed agreement, treat the theater as an idea, not a scheduled public building.

Coverage describes a public square and a pedestrian promenade, but it has not clearly spelled out who will be able to use the lagoon itself, what hours it would keep, or whether it would function more like a public waterfront or a private amenity. Until the later development agreements and operating plans are public, that should stay in the unconfirmed column.

The 4,400-Home Cap, and the Rest of the Program

The residential program is a cap, not a pre-sale brochure. The exact mix can change. Two limits do not: 4,400 units in total, and 2,500 mid-rise apartments.

No prices, floor plans, builders or homeowners association fees have been published in the coverage reviewed for this post. Anyone telling you what a villa or a lagoon-view condo will cost is guessing.

The commercial program, at least on paper, includes more than 1 million square feet of Class A office space, as many as two corporate campuses, office buildings reported at up to 14 stories, retail, restaurants, a grocery store, a market hall, up to two full-service waterfront hotels, entertainment space and a possible performing arts venue. A project representative has called The Marco an estimated $2 billion investment, Community Impact reported. That is the developer's or representative's estimate, not a town-verified construction budget.

What Still Has to Happen

Zoning is the rulebook. It is not a building permit, and it is not a closed land deal.

David Hoover told Community Impact that council still needs to approve development agreements in four areas, and that the town would like to do that by the end of 2026:

1. Economic incentives
2. Building standards and refined permitted uses
3. Impact fee waivers
4. Parks and open space

Incentive and fee-waiver terms have not been published in the stories reviewed here. They should be treated as pending.

The Dallas Morning News reported after the October vote that Blackard hopes to close the land purchase in the first quarter of 2027, and that the land is owned by attorney Don Godwin. The News's page is often behind a paywall; those details come from publicly quoted excerpts and have not been independently confirmed in a recorded deed for this post. Until a closing is public, the sale remains a stated goal.

On timing, the story has already shifted once. In August, Local Profile reported that the developer hoped to begin construction within the next year. After the council vote, a project representative told Community Impact that construction on the lagoon and other site-wide infrastructure is expected in late 2027, once the development agreements are in place. Late 2027 is the current public target. It can move if the agreements, the land closing or permitting slip.

Homes would come later than the lagoon, because the lagoon has to be finished first. There is no public, unit-by-unit delivery schedule as of mid-November 2026.

What This Means for Prosper Home Prices

The Marco will not deliver finished homes this year, and it should not be used as a reason to assume nearby prices will jump. The more useful question, in November 2026, is what Prosper's existing market already looks like.

Two widely cited sources, covering slightly different windows, tell a similar story: Prosper is still a high-priced market, and it has cooled.

The October NTREIS median is useful as a caution, not as a new normal. Prosper often has only a few dozen closings in a single month, so one quiet month can pull the median down. The 12-month NTREIS median and Redfin's three-month median are the sturdier reads, and they cluster in the low $820,000s.

For buyers, high prices and more time on market can mean more room to negotiate than during the peak seller years, especially on resale homes that have sat. It does not mean Prosper has become a bargain relative to the rest of North Texas. For sellers near the Tollway and U.S. 380, The Marco is a long-term land-use change, not a next-quarter pricing tool. Price the house you have against recent comparable sales, not against a lagoon that is still on paper. No builder list, lot map or first-phase pricing has been released for The Marco itself.

Property Taxes in Prosper for 2026

Taxes depend on the exact address. Most of the town, including the northeast corner of the Tollway and U.S. 380, is in Collin County. Parts of western Prosper are in Denton County, where the county rate and sometimes the school district are different. Some communities also carry a public improvement district assessment or a municipal utility district tax.

Here are the 2026 adopted rates that typically show up on a Collin County Prosper tax bill, per $100 of taxable value, from the Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector and, for the school rate, from Prosper ISD reporting covered by Community Impact:

The combined base rate for those four units is about $1.9387 per $100, or roughly 1.94%, before exemptions, PID or MUD charges. That is the starting point, not the bill.

A rough example on an $800,000 homestead

Using the 2026 rates and standard homestead exemptions only, an $800,000 owner-occupied home in Collin County, the Town of Prosper and Prosper ISD might look about like this:

• Town of Prosper, after the 17.5% homestead exemption: about $3,333
• Collin County, after the 5% homestead exemption: about $1,151
• Collin College, after the 20% homestead exemption: about $520
• Prosper ISD, after the $140,000 school homestead exemption: about $7,927
• Estimated total: about $12,930 a year

These are OnDemand Realty estimates from the adopted 2026 rates, not an official tax bill. Over-65 or disability exemptions, a tax ceiling, a different county, or a PID or MUD could change the number by a wide margin. The Marco's own future assessments, if any, will not be known until later agreements are public. Always check the appraisal district record for the specific address.

Schools: Prosper ISD

The site is in the Town of Prosper, and the developer has already talked about a possible partnership with Prosper ISD. That is a strong clue, but it is not a substitute for an official attendance-zone map. School boundaries in fast-growing districts change. Confirm the district and the campus with Prosper ISD before you buy, including for any future units at The Marco.

In the 2026 Texas Education Agency accountability ratings, Prosper ISD earned an overall A, with a score of 91 out of 100, and enrolled 33,583 students across 32 schools (TEA Texas School Report Cards). That matches the district's 2025 overall letter and score.

The district's tax rate is the piece of the bill that usually looms largest, even after the 2026 cut to $1.2011 per $100. Campus-level ratings vary, with elementary results ranging from A to C. The right question is not only "Is Prosper ISD highly rated?" It is "Which campus will this address attend, and what is that campus's current rating and capacity?"

The Dallas North Tollway and U.S. 380

Location is the reason this corner drew so much attention, and the roads around it are still being rebuilt.

The Dallas North Tollway already serves Prosper at U.S. 380. The North Texas Tollway Authority is extending it farther north as Phase 4. Phase 4A, from U.S. 380 to FM 428 in Celina, is under construction and is targeted to open in late 2027. Phase 4B, from FM 428 to the Grayson County line, does not yet have an opening date. Community Impact noted that once the next section opens, Prosper will have roughly three miles of tollway frontage to plan around. The Marco sits at the interchange that becomes the southern gate to that new stretch.

U.S. 380 is the east-west companion, and it is a work in progress. In April 2026, Community Impact reported that TxDOT was nearing the end of a $135.9 million Denton County project that added a lane in each direction and built overpasses at five major intersections, three of them in Prosper, with work then expected to wrap up that month. The larger plan to turn U.S. 380 into a freeway across Collin County is a different project, and a TxDOT spokeswoman said a start date for the Collin County portion in east Prosper was not available because funding was still being identified, with a total cost then estimated at around $8 billion. Prosper also has utility relocation work along U.S. 380 between Coit and Custer roads to complete by June 2028.

The Tollway extension should make the trip north of 380 more direct by late 2027 if NTTA holds its current target, while U.S. 380 will keep changing in stages for years. Anyone buying near this interchange should drive it at rush hour before falling in love with a rendering.

How The Marco Compares With Other Lagoon and Village Projects

Prosper already has a well-known lagoon community, and Blackard has already built a European-style village in the next town over. Those projects are useful comparisons only if you keep the differences straight.

Windsong Ranch, Prosper. This master-planned community opened a 5-acre Crystal Lagoon in 2019, with sandy beaches and water sports for residents and invited guests. The lagoon is a private amenity inside a large residential community, not a mixed-use village wrapped around a navigable canal system and office campuses. It is also already open. If your goal is lagoon living in Prosper in 2026 or 2027, Windsong is the existing, verifiable example, not The Marco.

Adriatica Village, McKinney. Local Profile noted that Adriatica, a 45-acre development inspired by the Croatian fishing town of Supetar, was Blackard's earlier village-style project in Collin County. The town's October release also points to it as the precedent. Adriatica is much smaller than The Marco's 143 acres and is the closest built example of this developer's village aesthetic, not a scale model of the Prosper plan.

Other lagoon communities have been announced around North Texas. This post only uses examples that can be verified as built and open, or as a prior project by the same developer.

What Buyers and Sellers Should Do Next

If you like the idea of The Marco, start with the public record, not the renderings. Read the town's October 28 release and the council conditions, then watch for the four development agreements. Confirm school zoning, taxing units and any PID or MUD on a specific address. If you need a home in the next one to two years, shop today's Prosper inventory against current comparable sales. Do not wait on a project whose first homes cannot open until after a lagoon that has not been dug.

If you already own nearby, treat the October vote as a land-use change with a multi-year fuse, not as an automatic lift in your sale price. The land closing and the development agreements are the next public signals that work is actually moving. OnDemand Realty first wrote about this project in late October; this November guide updates that coverage with later reporting, tax rates, price data and the road projects that will shape the corner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Has The Marco been approved?

Yes, the zoning and planned development were approved unanimously on October 27, 2026. That is not a building permit, and it is not approval of the later development agreements.

When will construction start, and when can someone buy a home there?

A project representative has said lagoon and site work is expected in late 2027, after the development agreements are in place. The Dallas Morning News reported that the developer hopes to close on the land in the first quarter of 2027. No homes can open until the lagoon is complete, and there is no public sales timeline or price list as of mid-November 2026. Those dates are targets or reported hopes, not guarantees.

How many homes will The Marco have?

The plan caps the project at 4,400 residential units, including a hard cap of 2,500 mid-rise apartments. The rest of the mix, high-rise units, retirement housing, villas and townhomes, can shift under those two limits.

Who is the developer?

The Town of Prosper identifies the developer as Blackard Companies, led by Jeff Blackard, also referred to as Jeffory Blackard. Local Profile called the firm BlackStone Communities. Blackard also developed Adriatica Village in McKinney.

How does this compare with the lagoon at Windsong Ranch?

Windsong Ranch's 5-acre Crystal Lagoon opened in 2019 and is for residents and invited guests. The Marco's lagoon is planned at about 15 to 15.5 acres, with canals and a mixed-use village around it, and it would also serve as stormwater detention. One is open now. The other is approved in zoning and not yet built.

What should I know about taxes and schools?

A typical Collin County Prosper bill includes the town, Prosper ISD, Collin County and Collin College, at a combined base rate of about $1.94 per $100 before exemptions and any PID or MUD. Prosper ISD earned an A (91) in the 2026 TEA ratings. Confirm the campus and the taxing units for the specific address.

Related OnDemand Realty Posts

• The Marco in Prosper, TX: Venice-Style Lagoon Village
• Living in Celina, Texas: The Complete 2026 Relocation Guide
• Taylor Morrison Breaks Ground at Wildwood in McKinney: What Buyers Should Know (November 2026)
• The Fields Frisco TX: Homes, Fields West and 2027 Outlook
• How Much Does It Really Cost to Sell a House in Texas? November 2026 Guide

Thinking About Buying or Selling in Prosper?

OnDemand Realty helps buyers and sellers across Dallas-Fort Worth, including Prosper, Celina, McKinney, Frisco, Plano and Allen. If you want help reading this project's next public filings, comparing nearby neighborhoods, or pricing a home you already own, start at www.ondemanddfw.com.

Disclaimer: This post is for general information only. Details about The Marco come from Local Profile, the Town of Prosper, Community Impact, the Dallas Morning News and the other sources linked above, as of August through mid-November 2026, and they can change. Zoning approval, development agreements, land closing, construction targets, unit counts, commercial square footage and the $2 billion investment estimate are not the same thing; several of those items remain pending or are developer-provided figures. Housing figures are Redfin calculations for the three months ending October 2026 and NTREIS closed-sale statistics for October 2026 and for the 12 months from November 2025 through October 2026. They are not a formal market analysis or a price forecast. School ratings are from the Texas Education Agency's 2026 accountability results. Tax rates are from Collin County's 2026 adopted-rate sheet and Prosper ISD's 2026-27 rate; they do not include every overlapping jurisdiction, exemption, PID or MUD, and the sample tax bill is an estimate. OnDemand Realty is not affiliated with Blackard Companies, BlackStone Communities, the Town of Prosper, Prosper ISD, Windsong Ranch, Adriatica Village or the other organizations named, and this is not an endorsement. Confirm property values with a current comparable-sales report and confirm school zones and tax units with the district and the appraisal district.