Business View Civil and Municipal | May 2021

135 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MAY 2021 BALCH SPR INGS , TEXAS themed splash pad and a skate park. They’ve also added an abundance of walking trails and plan to link them up with other trails to connect to bordering cities, so people can walk, bike, and run from place to place without being near busy roads. Although Balch Springs currently does not have a downtown district, they are looking into what it would take to build one near the city-owned public safety building on Elam Road. They are currently in the process of finding a consultant to make that happen. There are several new restaurants coming to the city, which Cluse wasn’t able to name due to non-disclosure agreements, but she promises that people will love the offering. And two new hotels have just been completed, which will hopefully help the city’s efforts to host baseball and other sport tournaments. Cluse admits she is constantly searching for new additions to the city to help give both long-time, new, and potential residents a great quality of life. She shares, “We’re looking forward to having events, housing on the go,” says Cluse. “While preparing for the growth around us, we’re mostly focusing on residential housing, but also looking toward more industrial expansion. And we want to sprinkle in some retail, family dining, and entertainment for families.” The city also just finished building the 216-unit Timbers at Hickory Tree Apartment community in partnership with Dominium Development, with units specifically geared toward workforce affordable housing. That project is scheduled to open by the Summer 2021 and take on tenants. And two other mixed-use developments that showcase new quality apartment housing developments with designated commercial and retail space for future phases by LDG Development have been completed at a cost of $38 million each. Balch Springs already has a great amount of greenspace, but they are working on adding even more parks, including a $1.4 million pirate-