Plans for a mixed-use development dubbed McKinney Northgate are slated to move forward after city officials approved the zoning during a March 31 meeting.

In a nutshell

McKinney City Council voted 6-1 to rezone 146 acres of land for a mix of retail, office and multifamily residential uses. The project, proposed by Dallas-based real estate firm Creation Equity, will be located at the northwest corner of US 75 and the planned US 380 bypass.

Plans for the mixed-use project include 135,000 square feet of retail space and more than 1,600 multifamily units. Developers are also planning for a hotel, six-story office buildings and outdoor amenities.

Council member Charlie Philips voted against the motion. The action by council comes the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the zoning request earlier in March.


The approach

City Planning Manager Caitlyn Strickland broke down the future development for council members during a staff presentation. While council approved zoning for 146 acres, development is planned for about 71.6 acres, according to the presentation

The zoning breaks the land up into four tracts with different proposed uses.
  • Tract 1 (10.7 acres): Traditional multifamily
  • Tract 2 (18 acres): Brownstone multifamily
  • Tract 3 (14.6 acres): Urban multifamily and commercial
  • Tract 4 (28.3 acres): Urban multifamily and commercial
The proposed rezoning would establish a regulating plan for the project that designate what uses are allowed to be developed on each tract. (Courtesy city of McKinney)
The proposed rezoning would establish a regulating plan for the project that designate what uses are allowed to be developed on each tract. (Courtesy city of McKinney)
Multifamily units built for the development will be available for rent. The brownstone units will be similar in look and feel to a normal townhome but they will be for rent, Strickland said.

Construction of multifamily units on the third and fourth tracts cannot start until construction of commercial space begins, according to the agenda. On the third tract, at least 20,000 square feet of nonresidential uses must be under construction before building permits for multifamily are issued.


On the fourth tract, at least 20,000 square feet of nonresidential uses must be under construction to build the first 400 multifamily units. A minimum of 40,000 square feet must be under construction to unlock all of the available units on the fourth tract.

The breakdown

Tommy Mann, a project representative and shareholder at Texas-based law firm Winstead said the project site presents an “incredible opportunity.” The developer’s high-level vision for the site is a mixed-use project that includes different kinds of residential offerings, office space and retail.

Those elements are integrated together with a series of open spaces and trails, Mann said.
Plans for the McKinney Northgate development include a series of trails and open spaces throughout the project. (Courtesy city of McKinney)
Mann presented a look at what is planned for each tract.
  • Tract 1: 300 multifamily units
  • Tract 2: 180 brownstone multifamily units
  • Tract 3: 450 multifamily units with grocery-anchored retail
    • Grocery: 65,000 square feet
    • Retail: 20,000 square feet
  • Tract 4: 750 multifamily units with office, retail and hotel space
    • Office: 318,600 square feet
    • Retail: 50,000 square feet
    • Hotel: 100 rooms
    • Parking structure: 910 spaces
“Tract 4 is really where the magic happens,” Mann said. “It’s the largest tract. It’s the most prominent tract.”


The tract will include build-to-suit office opportunities, core retail, parking and a hotel alongside some multifamily, he said.

What council members are saying

Council member Michael Jones called the development a great project but said it was a little disappointing that the brownstone units on tract 2 wouldn’t be a for-sale product.

“The rental community—it’s kind of growing in McKinney,” he said. “I don’t know how to slow it down as far as the rental homes and the rental townhomes but I think this is an opportunity missed given the vacancy of the area up there to have some more for-sale property for younger families that couldn’t afford a single-family home at this time.”


Council member Geré Feltus said there’s been a lot of talk in the community about the need for more retail.

“This definitely presents an option for us to have great retail on a hard commercial corner where there’s access to wide arterials,” she said.

Council member Patrick Cloutier said nobody was looking to build their house on the site. He said they weren’t going to get commercial development like this without getting the multifamily units.

“I think this is a great thing for a hard corner of two major highways in McKinney,” he said.


On the other side

Philips asked questions of city staff and the project representatives about the multifamily component of the development. He clarified with Strickland that the first and second tracts of the development would feature multifamily units.

Strickland said the zoning allows for 1,756 multifamily units in total on the land.

“It’s not that I hate multifamily, it’s just I hate stealing the American dream from our younger dreams,” he said. “Please do not take my vote against this project as something against the good work that you’re doing.”

Philips asked the project representatives about the construction timeline and whether the developers had any committed retailers yet.

What’s next

The first phase of construction will be installing infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer lines, Mann said. The development team is hoping to submit initial drawings to city staff sometime within the next month, he said.

Alex Bez, project representative and principal at Creation Equity, said they will begin marketing to commercial users but infrastructure will need to come first. The development does not have a committed list of commercial users or a hotel yet because it’s early in the process.

“We’re just extremely early in the project,” he said. “The zoning and making sure we got the zoning right was our first intent.”