McKinney leaders are continuing to pursue the construction of a commercial passenger terminal on city-owned land on the east side of McKinney National Airport.

McKinney City Council members unanimously approved a rezoning for a 280-acre tract of city-owned land the east side of the airport at a Dec. 3 meeting. City documents in the rezoning request state that the project proposed for the site will include a 45,000-square-foot passenger terminal.

The project update comes less than two years after McKinney residents voted against a $200 million bond proposition that would have contributed funding to the project.

The specifics

The rezoning request includes converting the land from its current zoning designations—which allow for light manufacturing and industrial use—to an “airport district” zoning type, which would allow for the development of airport-related uses.

According to city documents, the proposed project would occupy about 60 acres of the lot and include a roughly 45,000-square-foot passenger terminal. The terminal could change in size depending on the needs of potential tenants, the document states.

Other elements of the proposed project include:

• A roughly 1,500 passenger vehicle revenue-controlled parking lot
• Aircraft refueling operations on the apron—a concrete area that runs adjacent to the runway
• Two 30,000-gallon, above-ground jet fuel tanks
• Utility infrastructure including water lines, sanitary sewer lines and storm drains

The scope of the work would also include a parallel taxiway on the east side of the runway, as well as other supportive infrastructure for the terminal, McKinney National Airport Director Ken Carley said. The infrastructure work planned is “dual purpose,” he said, and would support development of both general aviation and commercial aviation uses.

“​​The taxiway, some of the apron ... is all going to be needed for any type of aviation project,” Carley said.The project is expected to cost as much as $70 million, Carley said. The facility, which Carley said could have three gates and five parking positions for aircraft on the apron, is also expected to be built to be expandable, and could see growth depending on demand once the facility is open.

“We're tremendously excited about it,” McKinney Mayor George Fuller said of the planned facility. “It's a project that we've been working on for quite some time. We're not there yet, but we are close, but we're excited about the continued tremendous economic impact that the airport provides for our community.”

A recent study by InterVISTAS Consulting identified that the airport’s current operations, which include only general aviation uses, generate a $299 million economic impact on the region annually, according to a news release from the city. The identified economic impact is a 41% increase from the economic impact value reported in 2018 of $212.7 million annually.

The airport also supports over 1,500 jobs, and visitors arriving at the airport spend $21.7 million locally, the release states.

“McKinney National Airport is one of our city’s most powerful assets,” Fuller said in the release. “By continuing to invest in the airport, we’re investing in sustainable economic growth, creating jobs, and positioning McKinney as a key destination in North Texas for both businesses and visitors.”

The context

A $200 million bond proposition was presented to voters to fund a roughly $300 million commercial passenger terminal during the May 2023 election. Nearly 59% of voters opposed the proposition, which ultimately failed.

Fuller said the outcome of the vote indicated a lack of support for the funding mechanism presented, which included bonds backed by property tax dollars, rather than opposition to the airport expansion initiative.

“It wasn't for the airport at all, it was about general obligation debt,” Fuller said of the vote. “This is something much, much different. We listened to voters ... we are not pursuing any of these items with property tax-backed bonds or financing of any kind.”

City council members directed the city manager to pursue grant funding from the McKinney Community Development Corporation and the McKinney Economic Development Corporation for planning and design of the infrastructure on the east side of the airport in February. The organizations contributed a total of $5.5 million following board approvals at meetings held in the spring.

What they’re saying

• “The thing that started all of this was really the airlines reaching out to us, saying, ‘How can we get into this market? How can we be there? How can we make operations out of McKinney work?’ and that's really what started us down this road,” Carley said. “This is kind of our Plan B about how to get it done since the first funding initiative really just didn't come to fruition.”
• “We have tremendous interest and are working with various airlines right now for service out of McKinney,” Fuller said.

Looking ahead

Carley said if funding is secured for the project, the earliest the construction project could be put out to bid would be May 2025.

City officials are pursuing various funding sources, including federal low-interest infrastructure loans as well as additional grant funding from the McKinney Community Development Corporation and the McKinney Economic Development Corporation.

The terminal could be operational as soon as the third quarter of 2026, Carley said. Announcements of any airlines coming to the terminal, as well as routes and airfares, would likely be announced about six months prior to the opening of the terminal.

For more information on McKinney National Airport, visit www.flytki.com.