The days of McKinney residents traveling to nearby cities in search of dining and shopping options are quickly coming to an end.

At least 34 new restaurants and coffee shops opened in McKinney in 2018, with 22 or more anticipated to open soon, according to a Community Impact Newspaper analysis.

Development at the intersection of Hardin Boulevard and US 380 has brought some new options. Those include Dillas Quesadillas, Firo Fire Kissed Pizza and Magnolia Nail Lounge. More will be added in 2019, according to The Seitz Group, which is developing all four corners of that intersection.

More options are on the horizon elsewhere in McKinney, according to city officials. The Hub 121 development will be at the northwest corner of SH 121 and Alma Road. The Avenue at McKinney, previously called restaurant row, will be at the southeast corner of US 380 and Custer Road.

“We’ve said for a long time that [McKinney’s] time will come,” said Michael Quint, executive director of development services with the city. “We’re an outer-ring suburb. … When you think about where the development pressure is coming, it’s not going to jump to get to us. I think what you’re seeing now is that 180,000-185,000 people [are] finally [driving] enough market need that the market is responding.”

Hardin and 380

Eric Seitz, president of The Seitz Group, said there were not many places to eat when he moved to McKinney in 2013. Nearly five years later development is booming at Hardin and US 380.

“I basically just started reaching out to those restaurants that I liked and told them the story about McKinney, and that was an easy sell,” he said.

Securing Costco and Cinemark Theaters for the development boosted business even more, Seitz said.

For many of these businesses this is their first entry to McKinney and, in some cases, Texas. Chicken Salad Chick, Burgerim and Panchero’s Mexican Grill all expect to open in early 2019.

Contractors have begun moving dirt on the intersection’s southeast corner, which will be home to Orangetheory Fitness, Fairfield Inn & Suites and home decor chain At Home. That corner will also offer 44,000 square feet of Class A office space.

More to come

Hub 121, a 22-acre mixed-use development, will include restaurants, apartments, and office and retail spaces. It will also have a 6,500-square-foot pavilion with a performance stage, a hotel and pedestrian walkway to Independent Bank’s new corporate headquarters.

Construction began Nov. 1 on a 286-unit apartment complex at Hub 121 and will be complete in fall 2019, developer Shane Jordan said in an email.

“Hub 121 will be a multivenue destination for all of McKinney and the North Texas area,” Jordan said in a news release. “We have a ‘wow’ factor in mix of uses that will bring customers to Craig Ranch and programming to keep them here longer.”

The Avenue at McKinney, with its 51.44 acres, will also bring in more restaurants, retail and entertainment. Plans call for up to 16 restaurants and 12 retail spaces, said Artemio De La Vega, president and CEO of De La Vega. His firm has worked for about three years with the city of McKinney to develop this land.

“[The Avenue at McKinney] a great opportunity to build something that’s lasting quality that the citizens of McKinney can be proud of and go to,” De La Vega said.

Construction will be done in phases. Phase 1 starting in February will include two to three restaurants, retail space and the necessary infrastructure needed to connect the land to Custer Road and US 380, De La Vega said. The first restaurants are expected to open in January-March 2020.

De La Vega said he expects to announce some restaurant names in early February and the entertainment anchor by summer 2019.

By 2023 residents can expect development at The Avenue at McKinney to be complete, De La Vega said.

“McKinney is fast-growing, and the citizens of McKinney, we feel, deserve first class, and our goal is to give them just that,” De La Vega said. “This is the right location to do an above and beyond project for the city of McKinney.”