Mansfield River Walk: Inside the $1B Canals at The Reserve

By Mansfield Observer · May 12, 2026

Yes, Mansfield, Texas is getting a river walk — though technically it is a canal walk, and the official name is The Canals at The Reserve. The 210-acre mixed-use community, built on a public-private partnership between the City of Mansfield and Dallas-based Stillwater Capital, will feature a half-mile navigable canal loop, a 6-acre lake, a boardwalk plaza, a new Mansfield City Hall, and a mix of hotel, restaurant, retail, residential and medical-office buildings on East Broad Street. Full buildout is expected to exceed $1 billion in private investment, with construction beginning in 2025 and phased openings starting in 2027.

If you have searched “Mansfield river walk,” “Mansfield Texas river walk,” or “Walnut Creek river walk Mansfield” — this is the project you are looking for. It is not on Walnut Creek and it is not on Lake Mansfield. It is a purpose-built urban canal district designed from scratch on what was, until recently, undeveloped land between State Highway 360 and U.S. 287.

What Is the Mansfield River Walk?

The Mansfield “river walk” is officially The Canals at The Reserve, the public realm centerpiece of a larger 210-acre development branded as The Reserve. Stillwater Capital and the City of Mansfield announced the partnership in January 2025, calling it “an innovative public-private partnership” intended to create Mansfield’s new town center.

According to the PR Newswire announcement issued jointly by the city and developer, The Reserve will feature “a series of one-of-a-kind water features including a half-mile canal loop, boardwalk plaza, and six-acre lake,” with outdoor amenities linked through a pedestrian network to an emerging town square anchored by a new City Hall, hotel, restaurant/retail, and entertainment spaces.

In other words: think a smaller, suburban take on the San Antonio River Walk, paired with a Sugar Land Town Square–style civic anchor and a brand-new municipal complex.

Where Is It Being Built?

The Reserve sits on roughly 210 acres along East Broad Street, adjacent to Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, between State Highway 360 and U.S. Highway 287. That puts it near the heart of Mansfield’s medical corridor and a short drive from downtown’s Historic Mansfield district, but it is a separate site from both — and unrelated to the Walnut Creek Linear Park system.

The associated Mansfield Reserve PD Workplace Sub-District zoning has been the subject of follow-on items at City Hall as recently as the March 9, 2026 City Council meeting, which included a continued public hearing for a Stillwater Capital specific use permit for apartments on roughly 10 acres at 240 N. Mitchell Road, inside the development.

How Big Is the Canal?

The canal is not a token water feature. Per renderings and master-planning materials from O’Brien Architects — which partnered with Land Design to convert Stillwater Capital’s concept plan into the full master plan — the centerpiece is a 35-foot-wide, half-mile navigable waterway lined with restaurants, retail, offices and hospitality.

O’Brien Architects identifies four primary districts within the master plan:

The Canal District — the half-mile, 35-foot-wide waterway with double-sided frontage for restaurants, retail, offices and hotels.
The Central Plaza — flexible gathering space designed for markets and seasonal events.
The Bay — waterfront dining venues with outdoor seating and direct canal boat access.
Central Park — an open recreational area with walking trails, green space and an amphitheater.

McAdams, the civil engineering and land planning firm leading civil, geomatics, landscape architecture and visualization work, describes the canal as “accessible by boats and recreational devices” at a consistent water elevation and connected to multiple lakes used for detention and recreation.

Who Is Building It?

This is a textbook public-private partnership. Key parties confirmed in city records and announcements:

Developer: Stillwater Capital (Dallas), founded in 2006. Partner Clay Roby is the public face of the project.
Public partner: City of Mansfield, working through Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Number One (TIRZ #1). The Mansfield Economic Development Corporation lists The Canals as a flagship “project success.”
Master planner / architect: O’Brien Architects, partnered with Land Design.
Civil engineering, landscape architecture and visualization: McAdams.
Retail leasing: The Retail Connection has been engaged for the retail components.

Assistant City Manager Matt Jones told the Fort Worth Report that “The Canals at The Reserve is an incredible project that reflects our community’s desire for more places to gather.” Stillwater partner Clay Roby has described the master plan as one that “embodies sustainable urban design, providing community focused space and an activated outdoor environment for residents and visitors.”

How Is It Being Paid For?

The financial structure is the most important — and least-reported — part of this story. Per City of Mansfield Legistar File #24-6268, the Master Development Agreement (MDA) for The Reserve was approved by City Council on October 28, 2024, with Economic Development Executive Director Jason Moore sponsoring the item.

Key financial terms from that record:

Project area in the MDA: approximately 173.67 acres (the broader Reserve footprint is reported as 210 acres in announcements, which includes adjacent parcels and the City Hall site).
Expected taxable value at full buildout: in excess of $1.5 billion.
Projected 25-year revenue to TIRZ and General Fund: more than $200 million.
Expected annual general fund revenue by TIRZ expiration: nearly $10 million.
City’s funding mechanism: A “Canals at The Reserve Account” funded by TIRZ #1 revenues, which the city will use to finance public improvements — roads, utilities and the canal infrastructure itself.
Developer obligation: Stillwater Capital provides the private investment and delivers vertical construction per the Master Plan.

The joint announcement put initial public and private investment at more than $300 million, with private investment at full buildout exceeding $1 billion.

According to The Real Deal, the City of Mansfield purchased a 10-acre parcel inside the development for the new City Hall, making the municipal building both an anchor tenant and a co-investor in the public realm.

Stillwater’s own vertical commitments already disclosed include:

A $64 million townhome project (The Reserve Townhomes, at 2501 E. Broad Street).
A $100 million multifamily project.

What Is the Timeline?

Based on the most recent reporting from the Mansfield Record and Fort Worth Report:

October 2024: City Council approves the Master Development Agreement.
January 2025: Public announcement of the partnership.
Spring 2025: Infrastructure and architectural design phase begins.
Q3 2025: Construction of public realm and first vertical components slated to begin.
2026 (current): Design continues; Stillwater Capital seeks additional specific use permits — for example, an apartment SUP on 10 acres at 240 N. Mitchell Road that was the subject of a continued public hearing at the March 9, 2026 City Council meeting.
2027: Phased openings begin.
Full buildout: Multi-year, with TIRZ #1 projections running on a 25-year horizon.

How Does This Compare to Other Texas River Walks?

Mansfield’s canal will not rival San Antonio’s. San Antonio’s River Walk runs more than 15 miles. The Reserve’s signature loop is a half-mile, intentionally scaled for a suburban town center rather than a regional tourism destination.

A closer comparison is the Bricktown Canal in Oklahoma City (roughly one mile, also a constructed canal anchoring a mixed-use district) and the canal/lake features at Sugar Land Town Square and The Woodlands Waterway, both of which paired a new civic core with built water features and rode them into significant retail and hospitality activity.

For North Texas, the more relevant peers are Las Colinas in Irving (Mandalay Canals) and Sundance Square in Fort Worth — Mansfield’s project blends elements of both, with a constructed canal like Las Colinas and a civic-plus-retail town square like Sundance.

What We Know

Project: The Canals at The Reserve, a 210-acre mixed-use development.
Location: East Broad Street, between SH 360 and U.S. 287, adjacent to Methodist Mansfield Medical Center.
Water features: Half-mile, 35-foot-wide navigable canal loop; 6-acre lake; boardwalk plaza.
Anchor: New Mansfield City Hall on 10 acres purchased by the city.
Other components: Hotel, restaurants, retail, entertainment, single-family and multi-family residential, medical office, central park with amphitheater.
Developer: Stillwater Capital. Master planner/architect: O’Brien Architects with Land Design. Civil/landscape: McAdams. Retail leasing: The Retail Connection.
Investment: $300M+ initial; $1B+ at full buildout; expected taxable value $1.5B+; $200M+ projected TIRZ + general fund revenue over 25 years.
Approvals: Master Development Agreement approved by City Council October 28, 2024 (Legistar File #24-6268). Specific use permits for individual buildings are being approved on a rolling basis through 2026.
Timeline: Design 2025–2026; construction beginning Q3 2025; phased openings in 2027.

What’s Still Unconfirmed

As of May 2026, several details have not been publicly confirmed:

Final groundbreaking date for the canal itself. Construction was slated to begin in Q3 2025, but a public groundbreaking date for the canal infrastructure specifically has not been publicly confirmed as of May 2026.
Confirmed restaurant or hotel tenants. The Retail Connection is leading retail leasing, but specific anchor tenants have not been publicly announced as of May 2026.
Hotel brand and operator. Not publicly confirmed.
Total job creation number. The official announcement says “thousands of jobs”; a more specific figure (permanent vs. construction) has not been publicly confirmed.
Final unit counts for the multifamily and townhome components beyond the disclosed dollar figures.
Environmental review documentation. No public opposition or environmental concerns have been reported in city records reviewed for this article; whether a formal environmental assessment has been published has not been publicly confirmed as of May 2026.
Connection (if any) to Walnut Creek or the city’s broader trail system. The Reserve is a self-contained constructed canal; integration with Mansfield’s broader linear park and trail network has not been publicly detailed.

Local Impact

The financial case the city has built around The Reserve is essentially this: a TIRZ-funded canal and civic core unlocks more than $1 billion in private investment on land that today generates a fraction of that value, and over 25 years the project returns more than $200 million to TIRZ #1 and the General Fund — eventually contributing close to $10 million a year in general fund revenue once the TIRZ expires.

For residents, the more immediate impact is a centralized walkable destination: a new City Hall you can actually walk to from a restaurant, a half-mile canal loop you can stroll or boat, an amphitheater for outdoor programming, and a hotel-and-retail district pitched directly at keeping Mansfield spending in Mansfield rather than driving it to Arlington, Grand Prairie or Fort Worth.

For Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, the development represents a major densification of its immediate neighborhood, with medical office buildings, multifamily and hospitality clustered next to the hospital campus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Mansfield, Texas really getting a river walk?

Yes. The project is officially called The Canals at The Reserve and is being developed jointly by the City of Mansfield and Stillwater Capital. It will feature a half-mile navigable canal loop and a 6-acre lake on a 210-acre site along East Broad Street.

Where will the Mansfield river walk be built?

On approximately 210 acres along East Broad Street, between State Highway 360 and U.S. 287, adjacent to Methodist Mansfield Medical Center. It is not located on Walnut Creek, Lake Mansfield, or in Historic Downtown Mansfield.

When will the Mansfield river walk open?

Phased openings are expected to begin in 2027. Construction was slated to begin in the third quarter of 2025, with design continuing through 2026. Full buildout will play out over multiple years.

How much will The Reserve cost?

Full buildout is expected to exceed $1 billion in private investment. Initial public-and-private investment is reported at more than $300 million, and the project’s expected taxable value at full buildout is more than $1.5 billion, per the city’s Master Development Agreement.

Who is paying for the canal?

The canal and other public improvements are being funded through a “Canals at The Reserve Account” backed by Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #1 revenues — meaning the public infrastructure is paid for from the incremental property tax growth the project itself generates rather than directly from the general fund. Stillwater Capital is funding the private vertical construction.

Who is the developer?

Stillwater Capital, a Dallas-based real estate investment and development firm founded in 2006. The master plan was developed by O’Brien Architects with Land Design, and civil engineering and landscape architecture are being handled by McAdams.

Will the new Mansfield City Hall be inside The Reserve?

Yes. The City of Mansfield purchased 10 acres inside The Reserve to build a new City Hall, which will serve as the civic anchor at the southeast corner of the development, surrounded by hotel, restaurant, retail and entertainment uses.

It is not — at least not directly. The Reserve’s canal is a constructed waterway on the project site, fed and held at a controlled elevation. As of May 2026, no public documentation reviewed for this article describes a physical connection between The Reserve’s canal system and either Walnut Creek or Lake Mansfield.

Has the project been approved?

Yes. The Master Development Agreement was approved by Mansfield City Council on October 28, 2024 (Legistar File #24-6268). Individual specific use permits for buildings within the development continue to come before City Council on a rolling basis in 2025 and 2026.

How does this compare to the San Antonio River Walk?

It is much smaller and very different in concept. San Antonio’s River Walk runs more than 15 miles along a natural river. The Reserve’s canal is a half-mile, 35-foot-wide constructed loop designed as the centerpiece of a master-planned suburban town center. A closer comparison is Bricktown in Oklahoma City or the Mandalay Canals in Las Colinas.

This article will be updated as the City of Mansfield and Stillwater Capital release additional information about construction milestones, tenants, and phasing. Have a tip or a document about The Reserve we should see? Email the newsroom.