DENISON, Texas — From 2000 to 2014, the city of Denison -- located on the Texas side of Lake Texoma -- had 500 home permits pulled.
From 2015 to October 2024, Denison is estimated to have pulled some 3,000 home permits.
Denison is located about an hour north of DFW in Grayson County, just south of the Texas-Oklahoma border. It has a population of about 28,000, according to the city's website.
Those numbers are only expected to grow.
"When COVID hit, there was a mad rush, it felt like," said Denison Development Alliance President Tony Kaai. "Because we’re getting calls and people in here every day from the metroplex. Developers [are] buying property up here to develop for all types of housing – apartments, single-family, townhomes."
Added Kaai: "People didn’t have to live in the metroplex because they didn’t have to go to the office, so they’re like, ‘Hey, we can move out to a smaller town and enjoy the small-town life, be right on the lake, basically, and get a house built brand new for 30% less than what it is in McKinney, for example."
Kaai attributes part of the housing boom in Denison to an affordable housing program that started in 2014, in which the city donated some land to builders for development.
“We’ve basically been having a housing boom and that’s changed the economics of the community,” Kaai said.
To accommodate all the new residents, Denison passed a $132 million bond package in 2023 that allowed for upgrades and expansions to Denison ISD’s Houston, Lamar and Terrell Elementary schools. Last month, Denison ISD broke ground on the new B. McDaniel Intermediate campus, scheduled to open in fall 2026. A new high school was also built after the passage of another bond issue around 2009, Kaai said.
And that's only the start.
A new private hospital was recruited to Denison bringing the number of healthcare jobs from 1,100 to 3,500, Kaai said. Texas Instruments made a $35 billion investment in a factory in Sherman, located about 12 miles north of Denison in Grayson County, that is under construction and is expected to bring about 3,000 tech jobs to the area. The Taiwanese-owned GlobiTech is also building a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Sherman.
The development is expected to continue, too.
Lake Texoma attracts nearly seven million visitors every year, hosting multiple fishing and golf tournaments at the country's 14th-largest reservoir, according to a news release.
To entertain visitors in Denison, developers bought more than 3,100 acres on the lake, and they plan to build an estimated $6 billion master-planned community boasting a Margaritaville resort in the Preston Harbor community. In addition to the resort, the community will have more than 7,500 homes, retail, restaurants and an upscale marina. The Preston Harbor project could bring 20,000 residents and 15,000 jobs to the region, according to estimates.
Craig International, which developed the Craig Ranch community in McKinney, partnered with the Choctaw Nation; Dave Johnson, the founder and former CEO of Plano-based Aimbridge Hospitality; and N9 Capital Partners on the Preston Harbor project.
It's not just the Texas side of Lake Texoma that's booming.
On the Oklahoma side of the lake, the Pointe Vista development -- a 2,700-acre master-planned resort community along 19 miles of shoreline -- will include the Hard Rock Hotel & Residences, as well as a casino, a water park, a family entertainment center, an amphitheater and more.
Hard Rock says its planned project, which has targeted a 2026 opening, includes 25 suites and 168 residence rentals, plus an 18,000-square-foot conference center and event lawn.
The Pointe Vista development is within 50 miles of both the Chickasaw Nation’s Winstar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville and the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant. The Chickasaw Nation also opened West Bay Casino & Resort overlooking Lake Texoma near Kingston last spring to replace the old Lake Texoma State Lodge, which was demolished in 2009.
"The Chickasaw Nation is committed to encouraging economic growth through a series of strategic projects and investments, and West Bay Resort and Casino is a part of that vision," Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said. "Creating new development opportunities helps enhance the quality of life of Chickasaws and our neighbors today and enables us to build a brighter future for our children and grandchildren."
To accommodate all the new residents and visitors, Denison has been focused on improving its infrastructure. Kaai said the city has been focused on improvements such as installing a new pump station at Lake Texoma to supply treated water to the city and replacing aging sewer lines.
“We have an allocation out of Lake Texoma, which is a 90,000-acre lake,” Kaai said of the city’s water source.
Even so, Denison will still need to expand its water treatment capacity if it's to absorb all these newcomers.
“The bottom line on accommodation is the water and sewer upgrading, and capabilities to have more water available,” Kaai said. “You have to have that for any growth, any housing, any industry, anything. That’s the baseline of all development -- infrastructure, water, sewer.”
"We knew it was probably about to grow, hoped it would," said Carli Dunham, the owner of Blackbird Cafe on the town's Main Street.
She and her family moved to Denison four years ago in anticipation of the population boom generating more customers for her restaurant, where everything is still made from scratch.
"It's been great, we love it here," she said -- her business has benefited from the city's new residents and its efforts to give its downtown streets a facelift.
But the explosion in population also comes with new costs; she's not sure how long she'll be able to afford rent on Main Street.
"At some point, I'm sure we're going to have to take a hard look at the numbers," she said. "I am a little afraid of the growth."