4005 & 4007 Coyle Street · Downtown Rowlett, Texas
The building that turned on Rowlett's lights.
In 1927, J.E. Coyle switched his cotton gin from steam to electric and brought power to Rowlett. A century later the gin is ready for its next chapter, and we're looking for the right partner to build it.
A rendered walk around and through the restored Cotton Gin: the patios, the upstairs deck, the lawn, and the building J.E. Coyle wanted to see running again.
The Cotton Gin was one of the first businesses in Rowlett. It belonged to J.E. Coyle, who was born in Rowlett in 1882 and went on to serve on the board of the town's first bank and on its City Council.
In 1927, Mr. Coyle converted his gin from steam to electric power. The lines that came in to run his gin brought electricity to Rowlett. He put an electric oven in his own home, at a time when most rural Texas families were still cooking over wood and lighting their houses with kerosene.
He was proud of that choice. In November 1940, Texas Power & Light featured Coyle in The Cotton Ginners' Journal, with his signed letter on "Ginner and Cotton Buyer" letterhead vouching for the electric motor that had run his gin for years.
It was J.E. Coyle's wish to see his gin restored and running again. That's what this project is about.
“Just push a button.”
Headline of the Texas Power & Light ad featuring J.E. Coyle · Nov. 1940
1882J.E. Coyle born in Rowlett
1927Gin goes electric; power comes to town
2027One hundred years of power
The Cotton Ginners' Journal, November 1940 · Texas Power & Light Company
Then · The Coyle gin, 1940Now · The gin on Coyle Street today
Look up at the gable. The Hardwicke-Etter sign bearing J.E. Coyle's name in the 1940 photograph is the same sign on the building today. Very few places in Rowlett can put you that close to the town's beginnings.
The centennial
1927One hundred years of power2027
Rowlett's power turns one hundred.
In 2027 it will be one hundred years since the gin brought electricity to Rowlett. It's the same year Rowlett turns 75, since the town voted to incorporate in 1952. Two anniversaries, one year, and this is one of the few buildings left that can tell the story of how Rowlett grew up.
We'd love for the gin's next chapter to start in its centennial year. We're also realistic: the right partner matters more than the right date.
Help us tell it
Do you have a piece of the gin's story?
An old photo, a grandparent who hauled cotton here, a memory of the building, a newspaper clipping. We'd love to see it. Stories we collect may become part of the restored building and the centennial celebration.
Send it to shelby@fhldesignco.com
What "historic" means here
Historic by story. Not by designation.
The Cotton Gin is a historic site, but it is not a designated historic landmark. There's no preservation overlay stacked on top of the city's normal process, so a partner can design for a modern restaurant, retail or hospitality use without a formal designation dictating materials and methods.
A designated landmark often brings
Design review for most exterior changes
Required materials, windows and methods
An extra approval layer before permits
Longer, less predictable schedules
The Cotton Gin
No historic designation or preservation overlay
Standard downtown code and permitting
Rear elevation open to operator build-out
Patios can be enclosed if an operator needs more interior area
What we'll keep, by choice
The street-facing façade. It's the face Rowlett knows, and preserving it is a firm design priority.
What we'll carry forward
The Coyle story, the sign on the gable, and the texture of corrugated metal and heavy timber.
What stays flexible
Steel framing, larger windows at the back, a new skylight, covered patios and an upstairs deck. The plans already show them.
Downtown Rowlett's form-based code and normal building permits still apply. Partners should confirm zoning and code requirements with the City of Rowlett as part of due diligence.
The vision
A place to gather, right where Rowlett started.
Restaurants, a wine bar upstairs, curated shops, and a lawn out back for live music, food trucks and families. The gin becomes downtown's living room.
The back patio and upstairs deckFire pit courtyardLot 2 next doorThe gin and its outdoor rooms, from above
Specialty dining
Room for a chef-driven restaurant in the lower level, with a covered patio.
A wine bar upstairs
A mezzanine space reached by elevator, with its own deck over the lawn.
Shops with a point of view
A street-facing retail bay, and small-format shops on the lot next door.
Outdoor life
A stage, tables, room for kids to run, and space for food trucks.
Renderings are conceptual and will change with the final partner and tenants.
Across Coyle Street and all around it
Momentum in Downtown Rowlett.
The gin isn't waiting alone. Rowlett has adopted a plan for its downtown, set aside money to carry it out, and put people in place to make it happen. Here's what's moving.
Concept rendering for the downtown pavilion across Coyle Street · design not final
The planDowntown Strategic Plan
Adopted October 2024. Coyle Street, the gin's own street, is a designated festival street in the plan's first focus area.
The fundingTIRZ #3
A downtown tax increment zone running through 2037 that reinvests downtown's growth into downtown: utilities, parking, streets and façades.
The gathering placePavilion & green
DART interlocal dollars fund pedestrian, transit and station-area work downtown, including an event pavilion and green across from the gin.
The public realmWayfinding & streetscape
The city is moving into design on wayfinding, public restrooms, public art, shade structures, lighting and streetscape.
The peopleA team for downtown
A new Economic Development Director joined in August 2026, and the Downtown Rowlett Board formed in September 2026 to focus on the district.
The communityRowlett showing up
More than ten residents spoke in support of the downtown plan at the August 2026 public input session, and a 75th Anniversary Task Force is celebrating the city's historic places.
Additional tools the city can offer partners include Chapter 380 agreements, façade improvement grants, impact fee waivers and expedited permitting. Specific terms require City Council action. Public projects are subject to city design and approval.
For developers, operators & investors
An infill site with the hard parts already done.
Two contiguous parcels under one owner, on the street the city designated a festival street. Architecture and site planning are complete. What the project needs now is the right partner, and there's more than one way to be one.
4005 CoyleThe Gin · Anchor
6,658SF · two levels
About 4,747 SF interior plus 2,705 SF of patio. Take one bay, combine several, or lease the whole building. Full core & shell architectural set complete.
Bay
Interior
Patio
A · Level 1
2,061 SF
1,202 SF
B · Level 1
537 SF
487 SF
C · Level 1, street retail
944 SF
—
D · Mezzanine
1,204 SF
1,016 SF
A + B combined
2,598 SF
1,689 SF
Elevator, ADA restrooms and common circulation serve all tenants and the outdoor area.
4007 CoyleLot 2 · Contiguous
0.6acres · same owner
No assemblage risk. The illustrative site plan studies two paths: a 2,150 SF single-story restaurant pad with surface parking, or six to eight small-format retail cottages around a shared green.
The cottage path is cost-engineered around manufactured structures, modeled on Geyer Commons in Mansfield, where 14 vendor cottages drew a waitlist of more than 80 businesses.
A negotiated Joint Use Agreement would tie the parcels together with shared parking, access, lawn and common-area costs, so guests experience one destination.
Level 1 · Bays A, B, CLevel 2 · Mezzanine bay DSite plan · 4005 & 4007 Coyle · tap any plan to enlarge
144,031Residents within a 10-minute drive
99.3%Downtown retail occupancy, year-end 2023
1.5%Retail vacancy across the planning area
$112,081Median household income, Rowlett
Demand is proven. Supply is the constraint. Sources: City of Rowlett Downtown Strategic Plan (adopted October 2024), Appendix D; U.S. Census and city data.
Ways into this project
Tell us where you'd want to sit. We'll build around it.
Lease
Any of the four bays, a combined footprint, or the entire building.
Take Lot 2
Purchase, ground lease or joint venture on the adjacent 0.6 acres, with a Joint Use Agreement.
Build together
Joint venture on one or both parcels, phased or all at once, with us leading local execution.
Bring capital
Equity or debt with a defined return and as much or as little operating involvement as you want.
Acquire
For the right partner and the right vision for downtown, we'll have that conversation.
Already in hand: the core & shell set, site plans across both parcels, renderings and a video walkthrough, working relationships with the city and DART, property management, and commercial brokerage. Still to structure: the Joint Use Agreement, the incentive package, and the partnership itself.
Finding the right partner can take a few months, and sometimes a year or more. We'd rather wait for the right one than rush the wrong one. Here's where things stand, so nobody's left guessing.
We are herePlans are ready
Architecture and site plans are complete. We're meeting with developers, operators and investors.
Months, maybe longerThe right partner
Choosing a partner who will do the gin justice and still be here in ten years.
After a partner signsDesign & approvals
Final tenant plans, permits, and any incentive agreements with the city.
ConstructionBuild-out
The gin gets restored and the lot next door comes to life.
The good partDoors open
Dinner, a glass of wine, live music on the lawn. Right where Rowlett started.
We'll keep you posted
This page is the gin's home base. When there's real news, you'll find it here first.
Come downtown
The best way to attract a great partner is a busy downtown. Shop Main Street, eat local and bring friends.
Share this page
Know a restaurateur, developer or investor who'd love this building? Send them the link.
Let's talk
Help write the next hundred years.
Site plans, the architectural set, due diligence materials, development history and financial information are available on request. Tell us a little about your group and what you'd like to build.
