Construction has started on a luxury apartment tower that will be the tallest building in Frisco.

Atlanta developer Novare Group bought a site from the developers of the Frisco Station project for the 25-story residential rental building along the Dallas North Tollway.

The tower will have 332 rental units and will be just north of the Dallas Cowboys' new headquarters and practice field.

It's part of Frisco Station, a $1.8 billion, 240-acre development that just opened its first phase, a seven-story office building. Construction is also underway on two hotels and a 301-unit apartment building.

"We envisioned density and urban-type development for this project from the beginning," said Mike Berry, president of Frisco Station's Hillwood Properties. "But we didn't envision a building like this happening at this stage of the development.

"It's an exciting addition to the project."

Novare Group's SkyHouse Frisco Station is the first high-rise residential building started north of State Highway 121. Novare is building it in partnership with Batson-Cook Development.

"We have done seven buildings in Texas," Novare president Jim Borders said. "The Dallas area has been a good market for us.

"There are a lot of young professionals that like our product."

Novare's 24-story SkyHouse Dallas rental tower opened in 2015 on Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The company built the 25-story, 352-unit Victory Place apartment tower that opened last year northwest of downtown in Victory Park.

Larger units

Novare Group has done 18 high-rise apartment projects around the country, including three in Houston and one in Austin.

"There is a huge employment base up in the Frisco area," Borders said. "We really wanted to go where the job growth is."

And, he said, the Frisco high-rise will be a little different from the Victory Park towers.

"We are doing some premium units at the top that are a little bit larger," he said. "Our target demographic is millennials, but in a market like Frisco, there are more senior executives coming from other parts of the country and [living] in an apartment until their family gets there.

"They want a larger unit."

SkyHouse Frisco Station will have studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

The top floor will have a resort-style pool, an outdoor kitchen, fireplaces and a lounge. The building will also have a 24-hour gym and workout rooms, a dog spa and a business center with coffee bar.

The tower will open in 2019.

Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates Inc. of Atlanta designed the building, and Balfour Beatty Construction is the general contractor.

Stockbridge Capital Group provided funding with Compass Bank and Trustmark Bank.

Big plans

Frisco Station broke ground in 2016 and is one of the largest projects in Frisco's so-called $5 billion mile along the Dallas North Tollway.

The apartment tower will be built next to the site of Frisco Station's planned retail, restaurant and entertainment complex called the Hub.

"We hope to be under construction by midyear," Berry said. "We are in designs and pushing as hard as we can."

Berry said Hillwood's new Station House apartments will start opening in the same area this spring. And next door, two hotels are under construction to be operated as a Residence Inn and AC Hotel — both Marriott brands.

"Novare Group's building creates instant mass and density around the mixed-use area," Berry said.

Plans for Frisco Station call for it to ultimately include 5.5 million square feet of offices, 2,400 apartments, 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, and 650 hotel rooms.

Hillwood teamed up with VanTrust Real Estate and landowner Rudman Partnership to build Frisco Station. It surrounds the Dallas Cowboys' $1.5 billion Star complex with its retail, restaurants, sports facilities and luxury hotel.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' Blue Star Land and Dallas apartment builder Columbus Realty have also announced plans for a 17-story rental tower at the Star.