McKinney City Council members approved a site plan for the 20,000-seat entertainment venue at a Nov. 19 meeting in a 6-1 vote, with Council Member Justin Beller voting against the item.
The specifics
City staff recommended approval of the site plan, Director of Planning Jennifer Arnold said, noting that project officials are working to eliminate remaining conditions listed on the site plan approval checklist.
The site plan includes over 5,100 parking spaces, surpassing the parking space requirement of 5,000 spaces. The proposed parking is distributed through two parking structures ranging from two to three stories tall and spanning over 1.6 million square feet total, city documents state.
The plan also reflects the proposed 20,000 seats, as well as a 33-foot-tall sound attenuation wall on the east side of the structure. The document also notes that the structure will be a maximum of 138-feet-tall.
The project will be developed in two phases, with the first phase construction including the parking garages and the second phase including the amphitheater, city documents state.
The site plan included some design exceptions, such as alternative planting locations for street frontage landscape buffers and parking area trees. The site plan also incorporates elements such as an enclosed stage, 10-foot-wide sidewalks, an eight-foot-tall barrier along the southern perimeter of the site and increased parking space widths.
What they’re saying
Beller shared his concerns about mitigating noise from the venue, noting that the consideration of the site plan is the council’s “last opportunity” to evaluate the project. Beller also noted that the sound measurements will only be evaluated at the front of house at the venue, rather than in neighboring developments.
“If the sound study could come back and it says that, in the neighborhood next door, it’s going to be 75 [decibels], which is 20 decibels on average higher than what we predicted it to be, [then] we’ve got no way to address that,” Beller said.
Council member Charlie Philips said the vertical improvements associated with the project will play the biggest role in the absorption and reflection of sound.
“Until we know what’s going up vertically, we’re not going to know how to mitigate that sound ... so I think it’s premature, and I think we need to focus on approving the site plan,” Philips said.
Bod Mudd, president and chief operating officer at Venu, the project’s developer, said that an updated sound study is underway to reflect additional sound attenuating factors that have been added to the site plan following the sound study that was completed previously.
“Nothing but good faith is what’s driving our efforts,” Mudd said, noting that Venu representatives have worked to meet similar sound mitigation requirements at the company’s venue in Colorado Springs.
The background
The $220 million open-air amphitheater was announced in March. The new entertainment venue will have a capacity of 20,000 people and be situated on 46 acres located northeast of US 75 and SH 121, adjacent to the Sheraton McKinney Hotel, according to a news release.
The amphitheater-style venue will offer direct sightlines to the stage from every seat, as well as views of the sun setting over the stage. The amenities include:
- Fully-covered seating areas
- 250-plus luxury fire pit suites
- A landscaped grass area
- Traditional reserved seating
- Owner's Club suites
- Food and drinks
- Over 5,000 parking spaces
McKinney leaders approved the initial development agreement for the project in April, which includes over $50 million in incentives. Amendments to the agreement were approved by council members at an Oct. 15 meeting, which included changes to the terms of the land purchase, the eligible operators for the venue and other changes to the site design.
Looking ahead
The facility is set to open its doors in 2026, according to a news release from the developers.
Additional work to finalize the traffic study and complete other steps of the permitting process are upcoming in the project timeline, according to the city’s website. For more information on the project, visit www.mckinneytexas.org/764/sunset-amphitheater.
