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Plans to build a 98-acre warehouse development along SH 121 are moving forward in Frisco.
The developer, EastGroup Properties, is requesting a special use permit, which would allow buildings within the development to use more than 50% of the space for warehousing.
Frisco City Council voted 4-2 in favor of the project at a March 3 meeting, with council members Burt Thakur and Jared Elad in opposition.
At a glance
The development will provide over 1 million square feet of office and industrial space across 11 buildings, according to a report from city staff.
David Hicks, a senior vice president at East Group, said he hopes to attract tenants from industries with unique office, showroom and warehouse needs like defense and pharmaceuticals.
“The restriction that we’re asking for through this [permit] is really to give us flexibility to help you all as Frisco to chase businesses that don’t fit in traditional office space,” he said.
According to the report, the development will include design elements to minimize the aesthetic impact of the project, including:
The context
City Council approved a similar permit for a smaller piece of land in the same spot in March 2025, according to city documents.
East Group intends to buy more land west of the original property and wants a new permit that covers the entire area.
The property not covered by the March 2025 permit is zoned for office showrooms, which is a type of zoning that allows up to 50% of the space to be used for warehouse purposes.
Assistant Director of Planning Jonathan Hubbard said if council members vote against the permit, East Group could still build warehouses on the site as long as they use less than 50% of the space.
The permit sets conditions on the development, like increasing the buffer along Lebanon Road, that the developer would not have to follow if the permit is denied.
“If we table it, or decline it, heaven forbid, they can build an inferior product immediately,” council member Bryan Livingston said.
What they’re saying
An online petition opposing the proposed warehouse received over 2,000 signatures, and Hubbard said city staff have received 338 project input forms regarding the project.
Tara Warren, a construction manager at East Group, said a majority of the comments she has received were from residents of the nearby Richwoods neighborhood concerned about the project’s impact on traffic.
“During the February 17th resident meeting, city officials stated that an additional Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was unnecessary despite repeated community requests,” resident Mukesh Parna said in the online petition.
Transportation planning manager Joel Fitts said a TIA was not needed because warehousing generates less traffic than other possible uses.
Unlike office or retail where customers and employees come and go, warehouse space is used for storage with limited visits from delivery trucks.
“We think of the warehouse being a more intensive use, but it’s actually a much less traffic use,” Fitts said. “So the higher the amount of warehousing, the lower the amount of trips.”
Delivery trucks going to and from the proposed warehouses will use new driveways that connect directly to SH 121 frontage road, which is already approved for truck use.
“When we see a development like this, being truck-related, we’re very happy to see it being next to a truck route,” Fitts said.
On the other hand
Council members Angelia Pelham, Burt Thakur and Jared Elad called for more resident input.
Hicks said East Group held a meeting with the board of the Richwoods Homeowners Association in November 2025, when the additional parcel of land to the west first became available.
“We didn’t really have any objections at that point,” he said.
Hicks said information from that meeting was not shared with the neighborhood because of an “administrative oversight” on the part of the HOA, which city staff confirmed in their report.
After the project was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 10, East Group held another meeting with the Richwoods HOA on Feb. 17, this time in a town hall format with over 50 attendees that lasted over three hours, Hubbard said.
City staff also prepared a fact sheet about the development that was sent to the HOA board, but Hubbard said the board did not send it out to residents until the morning of the March 3 council meeting.
“We listen to the concerns, and it’s our job to make sure that they’re all addressed,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said. “And I do believe that they have all been addressed.”
Moving forward
City Council voted to approve the request on the condition that East Group holds another meeting with the Richwoods community before council grants final approval of the permit April 21.
Cheney said residents who live near large tracts of undeveloped land are often wary of new zoning cases.
“Fear of the unknown is a real thing,” he said. “The vast majority of the time, once [projects] have been built and the people that live near them can see them, they realize Frisco city staff know what they’re doing.”
