Bringing on the show: Plano's $3.2B Legacy West gets a new attraction

The new multimillion-dollar show fountain recently added to Plano's new $3.2 billion, 255-acre Legacy West development will be an important part of this project — ensuring it becomes a destination.

The development team behind Legacy West added an iconic show fountain — the only one of its kind running in North Texas — as a centerpiece that will help drive pedestrian traffic to a destination, said Fehmi Karahan, the master developer of Legacy West and president of The Karahan Cos. in Plano. Show Full Story

The new show fountains at Legacy West are the only ones like it in North Texas, making this development a destination.

The show fountain attracts crowds that want to be in close proximity to the water.

Karahan, who recently spoke to the Dallas Business Journal, about Legacy West's leasing plans for the rest of the year, said the best mixed-use developments feature outdoor entertainment areas that integrate with the surrounding environment — like the show fountain.

The Legacy West show fountain, which sits in the central plaza along the main street of the development, brings entertainment to residents and visitors to the mixed-use development and gives them a place to congregate.

The longer they congregate, the better it is for the surrounding businesses, said J. Wickham Zimmerman, CEO of Newport Beach, California-based Outside the Lines (OTL), the design firm behind the Legacy West fountain.

"The longer they linger there the more likely they are to buy a meal or spend money," said Zimmerman, adding for every 1 percent increase in a consumer's length of stay, sales increase by 1.3 percent.

"With the onslaught of online purchasing, people have not wanted to go to the store and buy things," Zimmerman told the Dallas Business Journal."Retailers and developers had to come up with ways to entice people to go to the mall or shopping center and water features are a way to do that."

The show fountain is programmed to put on a water show in conjunction with some pre-selected songs with a variety of different types of nozzles. Zimmerman said there's "more nozzles," than average on this fountain — making it extra special.

With the natural attraction to water and the ability to synchronize music with a variety of different nozzles to showcase different movements, Zimmerman said he expects more show fountains to take hold in North Texas.

"It becomes a conversation piece and something people from all over the region will want to come see — it's like going to the movies," he said.

Legacy West is expected to finish the majority of its leasing efforts on the remainder of the retail and office space in West Plano by the end of the year.