Billingsley Co. unveiled its second park within Cypress Waters and marked the occasion with a few happy tears as partner Lucy Billingsley dedicated the one-acre green space to the company’s longtime president of development, Lucilo Peña.
Billingsley revealed the newly named Peña Park in a surprise ceremony Tuesday morning. Peña and Billingsley have been working together for more than 25 years. Billingsley said both his tenure and merits earned him this honor.
Peña Park sits just south of 9111 Cypress Waters Blvd and east of 9001 Cypress Waters Blvd.
Landscape architect Hocker Design Group designed the park, which Billingsley describes as a zoned design.
“We broke the park into zones, so people can have different experiences in each one,” she said. “We want people to have an excuse to be here.” The park has bistro tables, lounge chairs, ping-pong tables, water features, and public art.
“We made sure the tables and chairs were not fixed into the ground so people can move them,” Peña said. “We want people to feel comfortable, like this park was made for them.”
Since the park was completed last week, Billingsley said she has already seen office employees using the space.
Tenants such as equity derivatives clearing organization OCC and OneSource Virtual office in the adjacent buildings. Within Cypress Waters’ 1,000 acres, four offices buildings are under construction: Brinker International’s headquarters and three multi-tenant speculative buildings.
Additional parks within Cypress Waters are planned just northeast of Peña Park and at The Sound, a mixed-use anchor point within the development. Billingsley said the company may have started a new tradition of naming its green spaces after people.
On working with Peña, Billingsley said, “It’s been a great deal of fun. He has taught me a lot about design. We’ve worked together for so long that we finish each other’s sentences. And now he’s getting to work with my kids.”
“You can see just how much Lucy meant [the dedication], so I feel very touched,” Peña said. Peña first worked at Billingsley Co. from 1984 to 1989, then returned in 1996. He oversees design, engineering, construction, and master planning for Billingsley Co.
