By Aayush Gupta – Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
David Craig, CEO of Craig International, has selected a developer for the highly anticipated resort planned within the multibillion-dollar Preston Harbor project coming to the shores of Lake Texoma.
Preston Harbor will span more than 3,000 acres on the shores of Lake Texoma.
Phoenix Hospitality Group will lead development of the future Margaritaville Resort at Preston Harbor, according to the Dallas Morning News. Plans call for a hotel, restaurants, entertainment venues, swimming pools, boat slips and a mix of residential options including bungalows, cottages and casitas.
The first phase is expected to include 150 hotel rooms and 50 residential units, DMN reported. Construction is projected to take 12 to 18 months once underway, though the timeline depends on completion of a key northern arterial road that will provide access to the resort and other elements of the development. Preston Harbor is set to include single-family and multifamily living, retail, restaurants, walking trails and a marina on Lake Texoma, about 75 miles north of Dallas. Craig, the master developer of Preston Harbor, told the Dallas Business Journal last month that construction could begin within a year. He could not immediately be reached for comment about the selection of a resort developer.
Once complete, the project is expected to total around $7 billion in property value, significantly increasing tax revenue for local schools and governments. The initiative will also create new jobs and add housing, retail and recreation options to the Texoma area, which has seen increased interest due in part to new semiconductor investment in nearby Sherman and the thousands of resulting jobs.
Centurion American Development Group recently became the first developer to break ground on the 3,100-acre site. The Farmers Branch-based company, led by CEO Mehrdad Moayedi, purchased 550 acres within the community in order to build 1,184 single-family homes on 338 acres, with another 211 acres set aside for 115 estate lots ranging from a half-acre to 7 acres.
The resort developer selection adds to the growing momentum behind the project, which Denison Mayor Robert Crawley says will “eventually double the size” of the city. Denison currently has a population of about 28,000.
Overall, Preston Harbor has been in the works for two decades and was long known as the Schuler development. George Schuler, owner of Schuler Development, acquired the land over a span of 20 years before he died in April 2023. He left the project in the hands of Craig, who described Schuler as a “dear friend” during an Oct. 17 groundbreaking ceremony.
It will be major addition to Lake Texoma, which is home to the Chickasaw Nation’s West Bay Casino & Resort, Chickasaw Pointe Golf Club and Catfish Bay Marina. Meanwhile, on the Oklahoma side of the lake, a new $2 billion master-planned community is underway. Infrastructure work began last year for a future Hard Rock Hotel, the first of three planned resorts on the property.
Original Post: https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2025/11/14/craig-margaritaville-texoma-moayedi-preston-harbor.html