How annexation gave Justin breathing room for growth

JUSTIN — The sold signs on unfinished housing plots in Justin’s developments are an indicator of just how fast the city is changing.

In the last two years, Justin has added over a thousand people, started construction on a mixed-use town square and annexed hundreds of acres. Its housing market took off as well, with over 3,000 new homes in various stages of development.

“We have so much development,” Justin Mayor Elizabeth Woodall said. “We have a few neighborhoods that are built out, but most of them are still actively building, and new ones are coming.”

Timberbrook, a master-planned community, is partially completed and will have 2,200 houses when it is finished. Legacy Ranch is another neighborhood with 76 single-family homes on larger lots.

“They can’t build them fast enough,” director of strategic services Abbey Reece said.

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Part of the reason Justin’s growth is possible is that it annexed 850 acres Fort Worth had jurisdiction over. A piece of Timberbrook will be on the new land.

“We’ve doubled our footprint in the last two years,” Woodall said.

Expansion is not just limited to housing and annexed land.

Justin added 200 parking spaces to the downtown area and the city received almost $1 million in funding from the Texas Department of Transportation to add trees, shrubs and flowers.

“I think people are starting to see: ‘Oh, they’re really starting to move forward with stuff,’ ” Woodall said.

City leaders expect its population to be around 20,000 when the community is built-out. Within a decade, residents moving in are expected to triple to 15,433. Growth raises the need for additional services, something Woodall is well aware of.

Woodall, who also works full-time as an independent nurse practitioner, would like to see more medical care options within city limits, especially an urgent care facility, as well as dry cleaners, retail stores and restaurants. Residents would like a second grocery store in town for more competitive pricing and restaurants and retail stores to go to with their kids.

Justin Discount Boots and Cowboy Outfitters, which has been a central part of the town’s economy for over 60 years, and locally owned restaurants such as Outlaw Burger & BBQ and Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant serve as reminders of Justin’s roots as it balances growth with retaining a hometown feeling.

The City Council approved a Taco Bell last year, and Justin residents gave it mixed reviews. Some were excited while others wanted a sit-down restaurant instead, Reece said.

Woodall sees the challenge as staying ahead of growth.

“It’s trying to plan for that growth and not get overrun by it and still keep some of that identity that keeps your community together,” she said.

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JUSTIN AT A GLANCE

Population: Estimated 5,031 as of 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau

Location: 42 miles west of downtown Dallas

Racial demographics: 75.1% white, 18.7% Hispanic, 1.1% Asian, 0.6% Black, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, according to the U.S. Census Bureau

Median household income: $88,594, according to the U.S. Census Bureau

Median existing home sale price: $392,500, according to Redfin

Median new construction sale price: $583,057, according to Residential Strategies

Annual single-family home starts: 236 through second-quarter 2022, according to Residential Strategies

School district: Northwest ISD

Master-planned communities: Timberbrook, a master-planned community along FM156 to the north of Justin, will have 2,200 homes when complete. Further south, the Reatta Ridge housing development recently added 130 homes and plans an additional 216.

Rental communities: Justin has a 300-unit apartment complex, The Village at Reatta Ridge, that was completed in 2019.

Retail: City officials celebrated the groundbreaking of Justin Town Square in August, which will include 72,000 square feet of commercial space on 18 acres on the south side of the city, The Cross Timbers Gazette reported.

History lesson: It’s a common misunderstanding, but Justin is neither named after the boot company nor the Western store in town that bears its name. The city is named after a railroad conductor whose middle name was Justin, according to Woodall and Reece.

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