McKinney council pauses downtown parking garage discussions

Current plans include a potential parking garage at the corner of Hunt and Kentucky streets, and a collaboration with MEDC to develop office uses on the former City Hall property. Council members also discussed the possibility of finding a hotel, which was included in some initial redevelopment plans for the area.

City Manager Paul Grimes said the item could be tabled until more progress is made in finding an office user for the former City Hall lot.

“This is a matter of timing,” Grimes said. “We recognize that the timing may not quite be there—or the comfort level for the consensus of the council is not quite there on the timing of it.”

Grimes said he had the “all the confidence in the world” that Kowski and MEDC are going to be able to find an office user for the former City Hall property. Once they find an office user, they can consult with that group to determine the garage location, he said.

“Maybe that’s what you guys need as a council to be able to move forward,” Grimes said. “We’ll have to move quickly if that—when that comes up.”

The details

Public Works Director Ryan Gillingham returned to council to review three concepts related to location and schematics for the proposed parking garage in downtown McKinney. Council members previously discussed the concepts during a June 2 work session.

• Concept 1
  • 5 stories
  • 418 parking spaces
  • 360 square feet per parking space
• Concept 2
  • 5 stories
  • 407 parking spaces
  • 366 square feet per space
• Concept 3
  • 5 stories
  • 613 parking spaces
  • 356 square feet per parking space

Each concept had different variations that changed the number of parking spaces available. Some variations planned for retail space located alongside the garage.

Gillingham’s presentation included a cost analysis breakdown for each concept and alternative. His presentation also included “key decision” questions to generate discussions among council members.

“Any one of these discussions could take quite a bit of time to discuss and talk through,” Gillingham said. “What staff is recommending for the conversation today is really to focus on this first one, which is, ‘What is the preferred site location for a parking structure in downtown?’”

The context

The city owns several properties in downtown McKinney that officials have been seeking to redevelop since 2023. Those efforts stalled in May 2025 when the city was unable to reach an agreement with M2G Ventures.

Discussions resumed in August 2025, and plans were announced a month later to demolish the former City Hall and Development Services buildings. Part of the city’s plans include a potential parking garage at the corner of Hunt and Kentucky streets.

City officials are also exploring a potential partnership with MEDC to redevelop the former City Hall property for office uses, according to McKinney’s website.

Offering input

While MEDC has been “very aggressive” in pursuing office groups for the property, discussions have been paused because parking is a “critical piece of the puzzle” for them, Kowski said. MEDC officials have signaled to those groups that the city was going to provide parking.

“We have about eight groups right now looking at it,” he said. “Three with very strong interest.”

There is interest from hotel groups however MEDC has not pursued that in “full force,” Kowski said. They could “go further in that direction” but they’ve been charged with facilitating office development on the former City Hall lot, Kowski said.

“We have people lined up to go, but we’re waiting on the parking situation so we can correctly help them understand what the lift would be on their side to build it,” he said.

The discussion

Council member Geré Feltus suggested tabling the discussion until city leaders know more about what’s coming around the parking garage. While the area has a need for parking, she said she would rather wait until they know more details about any potential office development or hotel.

“The decision has become increasingly more difficult not knowing what is coming next,” she said. “This is why, in my opinion, we actually should table this until we have more information.”

Council member Michael Jones said parking is needed in downtown’s south side, but the cost to build a parking garage on the north side is only going to increase.

“I’m thinking of the cost and man, it would be a lot cheaper if we did it now than did it later,” he said.

Council member Justin Beller said if the item is tabled, officials could search for a hotel user. Until the programming around the parking garage is determined, officials don’t know what is needed, he said.

“There’s demand for a hotel, and we need to go bring it in hand,” Beller said. “That way, there’s some idea of, ultimately, what we need for parking to accommodate that demand.”

Council member Patrick Cloutier said he was not in a “huge hurry” to build the garage and that he wanted to make sure it's "done right.”

“This is a once-in-a-hundred-year opportunity,” Cloutier said. “It’s a pressure point for me, and I don’t want to get it wrong.”

Later during the discussion, Jones suggested that MEDC could find the “best project” that is the “most feasible,” and let that user plan the garage.

“Then come back to council and say, ‘This is what we got,’” Jones said. “‘This is the person that will build the office, and this is the garage they need. We need you guys to approve this,’ and let us look at it and go from there.”

Cloutier said any office user would have to understand that the parking garage would “probably also have to accommodate a hotel.”

“We’d have to at least say we need X number of spaces for a hotel,” Cloutier said.

The takeaway

Mayor Bill Cox said city leaders have “one shot at this,” when talking about the parking garage. He said he liked the idea of being able to pivot based on what a potential office group requests for the parking garage. He suggested revisiting the subject when “things are a little more concrete.”

“That’s a better opportunity than betting, gambling, thinking, hoping we might have it right,” Cox said. “[We] could have it right, or we might miss it. If we miss it, it’s a huge mistake.”