Industrial development in McKinney has increased as developers look to capitalize on available land and bring more jobs to the city.
With more than $1.1 billion in industrial projects permitted since 2020, McKinney has seen its business landscape shift as industrial development grows. The city of McKinney issued 99 building permits for industrial projects from 2020 and 2025, according to the city’s annual development reports, which is a 153% increase in requests for the same permit type during the prior five-year period.
Those building permits include expansion projects for Encore Wire, Raytheon and ILS Gummies. Other projects are planned by Lite-On Technology Corp., CapRock Partners and VanTrust Real Estate.
The recent developments are caused by a “perfect storm” of land availability, motivated developers and workforce in the area, said Michael Kowski, president and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corp.
“One of our goals as a team is to make sure that every McKinney resident has an opportunity to find a job in McKinney,” Kowski said. “By bringing in these types of uses, it just provides more optionality [and] more variety of jobs for McKinney residents.”
What’s new
Lite-On Technology Corp. is a Taiwan-based manufacturing company that specializes in semiconductor components. The company’s $919 million project is expected to create at least 600 jobs over the next several years, making it one of the largest private investments in McKinney history, according to a July news release from the McKinney Economic Development Corp.
Lite-On is spending $108.5 million to acquire two buildings at the Core5 Logistics Center, an existing industrial business park located along Cypress Hill Drive in McKinney. The new campus will span more than 650,000 square feet and support a range of manufacturing, operational and engineering activities.
Lite-On Chair Tom Soong said the expansion represents a “historic milestone” for the company. He said officials look forward to investing in McKinney as Lite-On continues “advancing next-generation technologies.” The selected site allows the company to draw from the “deep talent pool” in the area to staff the facility, the release states.
“McKinney is a community that shares our values of hard work, innovation and opportunity, and we are honored to be part of its future,” Soong said in a statement. “The strong support from the city of McKinney and the state of Texas made this investment possible, and we are deeply grateful for their partnership.”
The announcement is the latest in a series of new industrial projects that have been announced since 2020. CapRock Partners, a California-based industrial development and investment firm, is developing McKinney Air Business Park with 250,000 square feet of industrial space.
Construction on the project began in May and is slated for completion by 2027, said Taylor Starnes, the vice president of acquisitions for CapRock Partners’ central region. The project’s proximity to the airport was a “big corporate driver” for the development as a commercial passenger service terminal prepares to open at the airport, Starnes said, also highlighting nearby investments in infrastructure along Spur 399.
Project highlights
1. 121 Commerce Park: Two new industrial buildings
- Size: 761,000+ square feet
- Value: $29 million
- Timeline: first phase delivery expected in 2027
2. Encore Wire: Expansion of the company’s 460-acre campus
- Size: 650,000+ square feet
- Value: $250 million
- Timeline: operational in 2027
3. The Gateway at Formation Park: Two-phase project with six industrial buildings
- Size: 714,000+ square feet
- Value: $38 million (first phase)
- Timeline: TBD
4. Lite-On Technology Corp. facility: New advanced manufacturing facility
- Size: 650,000+ square feet
- Value: $919 million
- Timeline: operational in 2027
5. McKinney Air Business Park: Two new Class-A industrial buildings
- Size: about 250,000 square feet
- Value: $19.4 million
- Timeline: May 2025-early 2027
6. McKinney 121 Industrial Park: Two new multi-tenant industrial buildings
- Size: 160,000+ square feet
- Value: $12.3 million
- Timeline: building delivery expected in late 2026
Some context
McKinney Planning Director Lucas Raley said the city is in a “bit of a structural shift.” While development in the city has typically focused on homes, McKinney is now “transitioning into a more balanced community,” he said.
Residential permits are still being issued at a higher rate than industrial permits, but the city has seen an increase in industrial permits. Between 2015 and 2019, the city issued an estimated 39 building permits for industrial projects totaling $71.3 million in construction value. The industrial permits issued between 2020 to 2025 more than doubled compared to the prior five years.
“We’re in an industrial development boom,” Raley said. “It’s light industrial. That’s most of what anybody’s going to be doing. It’s light manufacturing, it’s warehousing, distribution, all of those things.”
McKinney National Airport is the “anchor” of that transition, Raley said. The airport is expected to begin commercial flights in November after a new passenger service terminal opens.
“It’s been a very successful general aviation airport for a long time, but now with the passenger service coming later this year there’s just a lot of movement and buzz around everything that’s going to be happening out there,” he said of the airport.
Measuring the impact
Industrial developments in McKinney are creating entry-level jobs and advanced jobs for “more seasoned professionals,” Kowski said, bringing more job opportunities and variety to McKinney.
“We’re seeing industrial-looking buildings that actually have advanced manufacturing and higher-paying jobs inside of them,” Kowski said.
EastGroup Properties is developing two new industrial buildings at the corner of Hardin Boulevard and McKinney Ranch Parkway. The construction is McKinney 121’s third and final phase, bringing the industrial park to six total buildings. Brett Lewis, principal and commercial real estate broker with Lee and Associates, said the company previously developed two buildings at a time for the first two phases. Buildings within the first two phases were fully leased within six months of delivery, he said.
“People hear the word ‘industrial,’ and they think of smoke stacks [and] trucks coming in and out all the time, but these are very nice buildings,” Lewis said. “It’s a nice area, and some of these groups that are in there also do light manufacturing or assembly-type operations.”
Quote of note
“The benefit of the planning that’s been done to really build out the industrial land use ... is to not only have McKinney be a bedroom community but also to have our own business headquarter [and] manufacturing operations happening right here in McKinney,” Raley said.
Put in perspective
Innovative Life Sciences, or ILS, is a McKinney-based confectionery nutraceutical manufacturer that produces pectin-based health supplements for a variety of brands, including gummies for sleep, protein, hair, skin and nails.
When the company began production in 2023, a roughly 20-person operation occupied a 70,000-square-foot space in McKinney, and the facility was able to produce 25 million-30 million gummies per month, ILS co-founder and CEO Dru Riess said. Following a series of renovations and expansions, the facility is expected to occupy about 220,000 square feet and produce 240 million gummies per month with a staff of 400 within the coming year, capitalizing on existing infrastructure and workforce availability in McKinney.
Looking ahead
Starnes said northeast Dallas-Fort Worth has been a “huge growth market” for housing and jobs, creating “synergy” that attracts corporate relocations and development.
“As those local economies continue to grow, the industrial markets tend to follow that,” he said. “With the location that McKinney has and with the infrastructure, the different roadways and interstates that are in close proximity ... checks a lot of boxes.”
Employees who don’t live in McKinney may spend money within the city at a retail business or a restaurant, which Kowski said is a “value-add” for McKinney’s economy.
Starnes said McKinney is “up and coming” in industrial growth, and that recent growth and planned industrial projects in the city “validate” the McKinney market.
“As early as two or three years ago, there was not much of [an industrial] presence. That certainly changed, and it’s going to continue to change over the next three to five years,” Starnes said. “It’s an exciting time to be in the marketplace.”
