Marketplace at the Ranch

The 700-acre master plan for New Willis Township is conceived as a living framework—where land, water, and community are woven together into a resilient and enduring place. At its heart, a mixed-use center emerges as both civic anchor and commercial hub, serving approximately 1,000 new residences while extending its reach to the broader Montgomery County region.

Shaped through close collaboration with the ownership group and economic development consultants, the plan by Franke:Franke reimagines traditional town planning through an ecological lens. Natural systems are not treated as constraints, but as essential infrastructure—guiding the organization of streets, blocks, and public spaces. Stormwater, landscape, and habitat networks are integrated into the fabric of daily life, creating connections that support both environmental performance and human experience.

Rooted in the scale and rhythm of enduring town forms, the framework brings together walkability, mixed use, and civic identity with the regenerative capacity of the landscape—establishing a model for sustainable community growth that is both grounded and forward-looking.

Civic life is interwoven throughout the plan, with community anchors envisioned as gathering places and institutions of shared identity: a town hall set upon a central green, an independent school, sites for worship, and an institutional or technology center connected to a regional university. Together, these elements create a network of places for learning, exchange, and belonging.

Between these centers, the landscape becomes the connective spine. The residences of varied types and densities are carefully arranged along the Crystal Creek corridor, where water, open space, and habitat systems shape the pattern of growth. Here, ecological systems and community life converge—establishing a walkable, connected environment where living, working, and learning are seamlessly integrated.