The $250 million project will span over 17.85 acres adjacent to Craig Ranch and will be anchored by the new Kaizen Development eight-story office tower. In addition to office space, District 121 will offer retail, corporate and restaurant development, along with other uses such as a hotel and an open lawn area called The Commons. The Commons will offer a stage with an LED screen and sound system, areas for outdoor gas fire pits and lawn games. It will be privately maintained and owned by District 121 but publicly accessible, officials said.
“We’ve spent the last year on economic studies and reworking the site plan to make sure this dynamic dining and entertainment destination is viable,” Craig International CEO David Craig said in a news release. Craig is developing the project with Partner Miles Prestemon and property owner Baber Younas. “There were a lot of moving parts that needed to line up for District 121 to be a success.”
District 121’s goal is to offer corporate headquarters and space for daytime employment. There are no plans to add residential to the area, so the space has more room for retail and entertainment options, per the release.
The project will break ground in May, and the first phase is slated to open in spring of next year, which will include the Kaizen office building and The Commons, which will be surrounded by 40,000 square feet of retail and patio restaurants and an 800-space parking garage, the news release stated.
"The city’s vision to be the preeminent choice for corporate relocations is coming to fruition,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said in the news release. “District 121 has been planned to incorporate the density required for sustainable retail, restaurant and entertainment amenities, and it is that environment that attracts today's large corporate tenants."
District 121 will be the second project of its type in the area. Hub 121 is actively under construction with some of the first shops there opening in 2020 and earlier this year. Hub 121 will also offer restaurants, a coworking space, a music pavilion, a brewery and some residential.
“We see District 121 and adjacent Hub 121 as complementary to each other,” Craig in the release. “There are 7,000 people here in a two-block walk radius—the only place in the metroplex with that level of built-in sustainability. This whole entertainment district will feed off of each other and both will be extremely successful. We’re seeing unprecedented growth in this area.”
Craig expressed appreciation for the partnership with the city of McKinney, the McKinney Economic Development Corp., the McKinney Community Development Corp., Kaizen and nearby landowners for their part in making the project come to life.
“We look for projects that create destination entertainment and retail opportunities and District 121 definitely fits that criteria,” said Cindy Schneible, president of McKinney Corporate Development Corp., in the release.
Leasing opportunities for the retail and restaurant components are available through Thomas Glendenning and Landry Kemp of Shop Cos., and James Craig, president of Craig International whose founder David Craig developed McKinney’s Craig Ranch community, is the listing broker, the release stated.
