Flower Mound-New Town Killed Edward Marcus
Third story in the series - Edward Marcus, Prince of Long Prairie
Flower Mound-New Town killed Edward Marcus, the Prince of Long Prairie. The stress and failure were more than his body could bare. Edward died just seven months after his dream for Flower Mound-New Town died.
“Raymond Nasher caused Eddie’s cancer”, Betty Marcus told close friends and family. Betty watched her husband’s health fade over the five years he struggled with Nasher. Edward and Nasher were partners in Flower Mound-New Town (FMNT). Edward wanted to build streets, homes, and amenities. Nasher stopped him – always saying more planning, studies, and consultants were needed. Many say Nasher, “Studied FMNT to death”
What really happened? How did FMNT fail? This sad tale needs to be told.
HUD issued loan guarantees on thirteen new town projects across the US in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s. The HUD new town program was meant to spur new ideas for urban planning, encourage self-sufficient communities, advance home building design, and help control urban sprawl.
Edward applied for HUD loan guarantees under the new town program in July of 1970. HUD told Edward the FMNT project required a “seasoned developer”. Raymond Nasher was proposed since he had recently developed Northpark Mall in Dallas and was well connected in national politics. HUD approved the first phase $18 million loan commitment in December 1970, but inserted a provision in the loan documents, “Nasher had sole responsibility for the development, management, and operation of the Project”.
In the HUD agreement, Nasher received 21.8% ownership in the project, a $150,000 per year salary, and an 80% commissions for management of the properties. Edward, who put up the initial 2,356 acres of land and pledged his soul to the project only retained 16.3% ownership. The balance of ownership was with twenty-two limited partners. Edward had 80% ownership and complete control under the original application, prior to Nasher’s involvement.
Nasher was seldom seen in Flower Mound during the FMNT project. Most of his time was spent working on other projects. Nasher did assemble and orchestrate Innovation Panels and Advisory Boards to study and plan every detail of FMNT, even components that were previously planned. Nasher appointed renowned professors from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, UC Berkley, Jackson College, Massachusetts and other universities to advise on how to build this unique Texas community.
Edward was on site almost daily. He simply wanted to build streets, utilities, homes, and amenities. “Nasher didn’t care about FMNT, but it was like a child to Edward Marcus. It was frustrating. Nasher wouldn’t let Marcus start anything, saying more studies were needed. Only two streets and about thirty homes were built over the five years of the project”, according to John Bartholemew with Rylan Homes (one of the FMNT builders).
A June 1973 HUD report revealed the problem. Only 11% of the budgeted Land Acquisition Cost was spent, only 2% of the Construction Cost was spent, and NonConstruction Costs (consultants, travel, & promotions) was 31% over the budget.
Even when HUD complained about the lack of progress, Nasher was launching more studies. In January 1974, Nasher sent out an exuberant news release announcing a new partnership with North Texas State University for additional studies. The release described a champagne affair celebration in a grassy park overlooking a pond, with a three string quartet. Edward was able to buy Nasher out in April of 1974, before this champagne could be served. But It was too late – FMNT had drifted into the perfect storm.
1973 was a pivotal year for HUD programs. President Nixon shut down and reduced funding for HUD programs across the US. HUD became increasingly difficult to work with and was reversing loan commitments for most new town projects, including FMNT.
Raw land prices almost doubled in the Flower Mound area with the opening of DFW Airport in 1973. Delays in purchasing and optioning land for future phases created concerns. HUD stated in a November 1973 report, “A Key Issue for the developer is if they will be able to acquire the balance of land projected … at a reasonable cost and on a timely basis”.
Interest rates for mortgages went from 7.38% in 1972 to 9.29% in 1974. Conventional HUD projects in nearby Lewisville and the Colony were struggling and HUD was selling these homes with as little as $100 total move in cost. Selling a new home in an experimental community like FMNT was increasingly difficult, especially as rumors of a failing project emerged
The national economy had turned. The Oil Embargo of 1972 set off a chain of events leading to a deep recession from 1973-1976. Developers across the US were caught in the crosshairs of spiraling inflation for building materials, tight money supply, and reversing HUD commitments. Only one of the thirteen new town projects weathered this storm without foreclosure or major restructuring.
A late Spring day in 1975, Edward sat down on a curb in front of the FMNT model homes. He was tired and devastated. Years of fighting his partner, the HUD bureaucracy, and the economy had taken its toll. A fatal cancer had a foothold in his body. FMNT was sinking like a huge ship and there was little he could do to save it. Edward would lose millions of dollars, thousands of acres of the land he loved, and decades of planning this dream. But this was not Edward’s his greatest concern.
“I’m just concerned about all the people that depended on me. I so wanted this to be a success”, Edward told John Bartholemew, who saw Edward sitting by himself on the curb. John noticed Edward wiping away tears. A photographer snapped a photograph of Edward a few minutes later and ran the picture in the paper the next day. The headline was, “Marcus Dream Unrealized, But He Hasn’t Given Up Hope”.
Marcus sold the Nasher shares in FMNT to Tinnie Mercantile (affiliate of Atlantic Richfield). Together, they offered to inject another $4.5 million of collateral to secure $10 million of additional HUD guarantees. HUD refused and demanded $8.5 million to provide $10 million in guarantees. Negotiations collapsed, FMNT development shut down in mid 1975, and HUD foreclosed the project in September of 1976. Edward Marcus died seven months later of pancreatic cancer at the age of 67.
The story of Edward Marcus’s death is sad. But he left Flower Mound much better than he found it in 1950, when he bought his initial 320 acres of land on the Long Prairie. Edward did more to shape quality growth in Flower Mound than anyone. He left Flower Mound with extensive park & trail networks, magnificent trees, streets, homes, recreation facilities, school & church sites, and a master plan to carry forward. Our lives are better for Edward Marcus’s vision and passion. He was a prince of a man.