A site including Allen’s former fire station will be transformed into a restaurant and retail hub, which is one of several projects planned to help renew the downtown area. (Rendering courtesy city of Allen)
The first phase of Allen’s Downtown Catalyst Project is expected to break ground this fall, bringing the $17 million development one step closer to reality.
The big picture
The 2-acre development will reuse the original Allen fire station building, which opened in 1970, and add a new building to house 18,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space in Phase 1A of the project. It will have about six restaurants, including a cocktail and tapas concept with a rooftop patio, an Italian restaurant, a Tex-Mex concept, a sports bar, and two original businesses—a “first of its kind” coffee and wine bar, and an ice cream and candy shop, said Jacob Cox, a partner at North Texas-based hospitality group Blender Brands.
The project will also feature a public pocket park and a stage, Cox said. The park will be programmed with events and live music, which Cox said he hopes will attract visitors.
“I hope that motivates people to want to come and hang out there,” Cox said of the park.
The project site is at the northeast corner of West McDermott Drive and South Anna Drive in Allen. (Rendering courtesy city of Allen)
The development is one of multiple looking to bring new life to downtown. Gillett Commercial is planning a 12,000-square-foot retail building on a lot north of the Allen Public Library, which will act as an “anchor” for the area, founder and developer Bucky Gillett said.
“Housing plays a big role in downtown because you won’t get the retailers unless you have a decent number of heads on beds,” Wolverine Interests President Jim Leslie said.
The project encompasses 2 acres and includes approximately 18,000 square feet of retail space. (Source: City of Allen/Community Impact)
The specifics
The projects are all located in the Allen Tax Increment Finance Zone No. 2. The area, also known as the Central Business District, was established in 2006 to “attract new investment and encourage revitalization,” city documents state.
Taxes generated in the district are used for improvements in that area, per the Texas Comptroller’s website.
The Allen Economic Development Corp. owns several properties in the TIF Zone No. 2, including the former fire station. This first phase of redevelopment is a way to entice other business owners to come to downtown Allen, which would generate more tax dollars for the city, Allen EDC President and CEO Dan Bowman said.
The TIF Zone’s revenue is one funding source for the Downtown Catalyst Project, alongside funds from project partners Rough Creek Capital Services, AEDC and the Allen Community Development Corp.
To support downtown development, city officials identified several roads in the area in the 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan. Reconstruction work on Anna, Daisy, Coats and Belmont drives was completed in fiscal year 2017-18. More work is slated for Anna, Bonham and Boyd drives, Allen Communications Manager Kristi Soto said.
The impact
A revitalized downtown has been a priority for city officials since 2021 when a citizen-led downtown steering committee was created, Mayor Chris Schulmeister said. The committee spent about a year discussing the vision for the downtown area.
“There was always a calling from the people in the community—and having lived here as long as I have, I was part of that—always wanting to do something downtown,” Schulmeister said.
Officials are hoping the project leads to economic growth. The Allen Chamber of Commerce officials relocated their office within downtown, a move that Allen Chamber of Commerce CEO Kyle Jacobson said makes the organization “part of the solution” for revitalizing the area.
“The goal is to bring traffic to downtown and people to downtown, outside of your normal business hours during the week,” Jacobson said.
Allen Flower Shop co-owner Ginger Kerr Collier said she hopes the development creates more awareness of Allen’s downtown area and spurs more development further down Main Street.
“Once things [get] going, I think things will start expanding, and people will start coming,” she said.
When the Allen Public Library was built in the early 2000s, the site was specifically chosen with future downtown development in mind, Library Director Jeff Timbs said.
“That was always the vision ... at some point there would be downtown development and it would be good to have the library downtown as a way of attracting people,” he said.
Quote of note
“The citizens ... are hungry for that unique thing. They don’t want to have to go drive to McKinney for The Square [or to] Bishop Arts. They want their unique thing that feels like Allen,” Bowman said.
Looking ahead
While there is no specific Phase 1B plan, Rough Creek Capital Services has exclusive rights to develop the area for three years, per city documents.
“Downtown can become its own economic engine, but you’ve got to create that spark,” Bowman said.
Coming soon to downtown Allen:
Fall 2026: Groundbreaking for Downtown Catalyst Project Phase 1A
Fall 2026: Groundbreaking for Blackburn Communities and Wolverine Interests multifamily project
Early 2028: Project completion slated for Blackburn Communities and Wolverine Interests multifamily project
Spring 2028: Project completion slated for Downtown Catalyst Project Phase 1A
