Richardson downtown gets 281-unit apartment project near DART rail

Construction has started on Avina Richardson, a 281-unit apartment community at 110 E. Polk St. that is adding another dense, rail-oriented housing project to downtown Richardson. High Street Residential, Trammell Crow Company’s residential arm, is building the four-story project with Tokyu Land US Corporation, and the development is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2027.

The project fits a city strategy that has steadily pushed more people, more investment and more daily activity into Richardson’s urban core instead of relying only on suburban expansion. The City of Richardson marked the opening of Belt + Main and Interurban Common on April 26, 2025, as part of the same downtown transformation, and it has spent years steering redevelopment around Dallas Area Rapid Transit stations and the central business district. In 2022, the city issued a request for proposals for a high-density transit-oriented development opportunity at Arapaho Center Station, and in March 2025 it sought a private partner to redevelop the 14.47-acre site at 200 Woodall Dr.

That broader push has real winners. Avina Richardson is being positioned for young professionals, corporate employees and other renters who want an urban-style lifestyle with direct access to jobs, restaurants, entertainment and public transportation. Richardson still has one of the strongest employment bases in Collin County’s orbit, anchored by technology, telecom and professional-services employers, and the city’s educated workforce and transportation network continue to support both commercial and residential investment. Nearby corporate growth, including expansion by Celestica, adds another layer of demand for housing close to work.

But the same density that makes downtown more competitive also changes daily life for the people already living there. A new 281-unit building near DART rail means more foot traffic, more cars competing for parking and more pressure on streets, utilities and neighborhood character as the downtown core grows more active. The housing may help broaden options near transit, but it also reinforces a market that is increasingly built around walkable, station-area living, where the most desirable addresses tend to cluster close to the rail line and the downtown district.

Richardson’s planning documents show that the city is not treating this as a one-off project. Its comprehensive vision studies cover the Main Street/Central Expressway Corridor and the Collins/Arapaho Transit-Oriented Development and Innovation District, and its land-use materials explicitly encourage transit-oriented development near DART stations and alternative transportation modes. High Street Residential said it also had four other multifamily projects underway across North Texas in April 2026, including a 394-unit apartment community at DART’s SMU/Mockingbird Station in Dallas, underscoring how station-area housing has become a regional development play.