Learn five facts about Crandall, Texas, a boomtown 24 miles southeast of downtown Dallas.
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Homebuyers discover Crandall, a no-stoplight town surrounded by development
Some 30,000 homes are planned there and in the surrounding area over the next decade.
By Kyle Arnold
Update:
This story is part of Boomtowns, a look at some of the cities surrounding Dallas-Fort Worth that are attracting the interest of homebuilders, businesses and new residents as the area grows.
CRANDALL — Hollywood seems to have discovered Crandall years ago, even if homebuyers were a bit slower.
Crandall’s small-town Texas charm netted it roles in major studio releases such as the 1967 Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway hit Bonnie and Clyde or the critically acclaimed Hilary Swank drama Boys Don’t Cry.
Now homebuyers and developers are taking notice.
A look at Crandall in images
10 images
Located 24 miles southeast of downtown Dallas, Crandall is one of several Kaufman County communities getting attention from homebuilders and poised to boom big during the next few years.
Serving for decades as a shipping point for area cotton farmers using the city’s railroad, Crandall today is a no-stoplight town with a single downtown grocery store. But in Crandall and the area directly around the city in unincorporated Kaufman County, developers have announced plans for nearly 30,000 homes by the end of the decade.
“I don’t know what Crandall is going to look like in the future, but it isn’t going to look anything like it does today,” said Casey Bingham, Crandall’s economic development director.
Crandall is a straight shot up U.S. 175 to downtown Dallas, and the north side of Crandall has easy access to Interstate 20. Bingham said that easy highway access helps connect the town to the rest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Developers such as PMB Capital and Huffines Communities have targeted Crandall for major housing developments. Huffines’ Heartland project, just to the north of Crandall on Interstate 20, already has 4,400 lots ready for homes and 450 more on the way. PMB’s Wildcat Ranch has 1,992 more lots ready for development.
In all, there were nearly 1,500 home starts last year, according to Residential Strategies Inc. That has made Crandall and its surrounding area swell in population by 54% since 2010 to about 6,800 people. Nearby Heartland has another 5,500 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Perhaps it’s because those new homes are among the cheapest in the region, averaging $310,625 in the second quarter of this year.
Another 30,000 homes in the next decade would be radical growth, Bingham said, and that means Crandall and the surrounding area need amenities to support new homes.
The city only has a small Brookshire Brothers grocery store downtown and a Dollar General on the northern outskirts. Bingham said residents crave a full-service grocer and that many would prefer not to drive to nearby Forney, Terrell or Mesquite to buy basics.
There are long-term plans for improvements to roads, including that first stoplight.
The city’s defining feature is a 245-acre, 18-hole golf course near downtown called the Rusted Rail. The course was designed by prolific golf architect Dick Phelps and was finished in 1995 as the Creekview Golf Course.
There is also the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center adjacent to Crandall in nearby Combine, a 2,000-acre nature center and research project created by Dallas’ Rosewood Corp.
CRANDALL AT A GLANCE
Population: 3,860 as of July 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Location: 24 miles southeast of downtown Dallas.
Racial demographics: 82% white, 13% Hispanic, 2% Black as of 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau.
Median household income: $96,417 as of 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Median existing home sale price: $300,000, according to Redfin.
Median new construction sale price: $310,625, according to Residential Strategies.
Annual single-family home starts: 756 through second-quarter 2022, according to Residential Strategies.
School district: Crandall ISD.
Master-planned communities: Huffines Communities Heartland project has 4,400 lots ready for homes and 450 more on the way. PMB Capital’s Wildcat Ranch has 1,992 lots ready for development.
Retail: Brookshire Brothers, Dollar General.
History lesson: Crandall was a filming location for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as well as 1999′s Boys Don’t Cry starring Hilary Swank.
Meet the next North Texas boomtowns
As Dallas-Fort Worth grows, smaller cities in every direction are attracting the attention of builders and new residents. Here are some of the ones to watch.
