The District, as this dining quadrant is called, is the latest phase in Starwood Retail’s $125 million remake of the property. The new dining area's tenants include Knife, a steakhouse from James Beard Foundation nominee and two-time Top Chef contestant John Tesar; Mexican Bar Co. Cocina, from James Beard Foundation–featured chef Patricio Sandoval; Terra Mediterranean, from brothers Jalal Chanaa and Adam Shanaa; and Whistle Britches, offering Southern comfort food from James Beard Foundation–nominated Omar Flores.

“Experience really is the new luxury,” said Jeff Zeigler, COO of Starwood Retail. The redeveloped District quadrant is a prime example of the firm's efforts to reinvent its shopping complexes as multiuse urban cores, he says.

The District is built on the site of a long-shuttered department store anchor. When Starwood Retail’s parent, Starwood Capital Group, acquired the property in 2014, it began considering the best potential uses and decided that expansion of the dining and entertainment options would be the best way to serve the growing Plano community.

“We were delighted when Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere noted at the gala that the District represented some of the best food in North Texas,” said Bryant Siragusa, Starwood's vice president of national restaurant and entertainment leasing. “Plano’s growing population deserves unique dining, and we’re proud to give that to them at the District."

The dining zone is the first renovation and expansion of the Shops at Willow Bend since its 2001 opening. Other highlights include a new grand entrance complete with valet drop-off and pickup; such exterior amenities as lighting enhancements, fountains, soft seating and fire pits; and an interior remodel projecting a contemporary aesthetic.