Developer: $1B The Gate project in Frisco not for sale, now or later

The Dubai-based developer behind the luxurious plans of the $1 billion The Gate mixed-use development in Frisco's $5 Billion Mile said the project has been a top priority for the past two years and Invest Group Overseas recent call for development partners hasn't changed those plans.

"Without a doubt the project shall be a great success to us and the city," said Invest Group Overseas CEO Anas Kozbari. "Therefore, IGO is not placing the entire Gate project for sale not now and not later.

"Simply, we are choosing qualified development partners for certain parcels of the project such as the hotel site as IGO is not a hotelier," he added. "We are very much committed to the development of the Gate project as previously planned."

Kozbari told the Dallas Business Journal recently he was deciding between two hotel flags for the marquee hotel at the northwest corner of John Hickman Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway, which sits north of the new Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility.

Until then, he's getting the 41-acre site ready for infrastructure to support the mixed-use development, which will bring a hotel, two condo towers, townhomes, apartments, as well as retail and restaurant space to this part of Frisco.

On Tuesday, Institutional Property Advisors placed The Gate on the market looking for a variety of development partners to help bring portions of the project to fruition, such as the luxury hotel.

By placing portions of the project on the market, it created some confusion in the market, said Drew Kile, a director at Institutional Property Advisors' Dallas-Fort Worth office. However, Kile confirmed the entire development is not on the market.

Kozbari said the marketing of certain parcels of the project would not impact the development plans of The Gate. The development group is expecting to begin construction on the high-profile site in the third quarter of 2016.