Little Elm experiencing rapid growth on north side of town

Little Elm Journal
By Arianna Morrison | Star Local Media
October 6, 2022

Little Elm has had development plans for the north side of the Town for years, but jurisdiction near U.S. Route 380 can be tricky since there are so many districts in the area. 

The Town of Little Elm mainly covers the corridor from Highway 720 to U.S. Route 380, which is one of its more rapidly growing areas, Matt Mueller, the Little Elm Town Manager said. The biggest project going on the northside of Little Elm is Spiritas Ranch.

Spiritas Ranch will be located just off the banks of Lake Lewisville’s 62-mile shoreline and will offer 545 acres of single-family homes. The subdivision will have a wide range of amenities including a resort-style swimming pool with cabana, a kid’s pool, a playground, sand volleyball courts and green space. The community will be situated in Denton ISD and will have over 2,100 new homes for Little Elm residents.

The master plan for Spiritas Ranch, which is a 545 acre subdivision being built on the north side of Little Elm.
Courtesy of Centurion American Development Group

Retail in the area is also starting to take off. On the north side of Little Elm, Starbucks recently opened and the town has commitments from Qdoba, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Slim Chickens, and Freddy’s. 

“With that kind of growth comes a definite need to expand and grow our services as well,” Mueller said. “We’re in the early phases of designing our public safety annex, which is going to have a fourth fire station and then a police substation.”

For the public safety annex, Mueller said the town is going to look at the budget and plan for staffing the facility. It should be open within the next two and a half to three years. 

A big part of what the Town of Little Elm is looking into is the expansion of public safety services to accommodate for the growth in the area. This accommodation is part of the town’s Strategic Plan and falls within maintaining operational integrity and viability. As of July 31, 2022, this part of the plan was 15% completed and 50% underway.

“We’re dealing with a lot more growth than we actually have because everyone is growing in that corridor,” Mueller said. “We’re just trying to keep up with the growth of services and make sure that people who live in Little Elm in the area and that drive through, have as safe an environment as possible.”