Plano City Council approved the expansion of a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, in its Legacy area at a meeting Aug. 24.
The details
Director of Special Project Peter Braster said the initial boundary for Plano’s TIRZ 5 was created to focus on redevelopment at the former Electronic Data Systems campus, and included the PepsiCO/Frito Lay and Ericsson facilities along with the former JCPenny headquarters.
“[The expansion] is really about shifting the focus away from EDS to the larger Legacy business area,” Braster said. “We’re getting lots of inquiries in redevelopment on the larger campuses and as such, we are finding that we have some capacity issues with our infrastructure that we need to expand, including things like sidewalks and trails.”
TIRZ 5 was first approved by the city in 2024, per previous reporting, to help fund a proposed life sciences campus. The originally approved zone was 703.47 acres, while the newly expanded version of the zone is now 2,485.98 acres.
The city is estimating to see $31 million in additional tax revenue from the expansion, totaling the total revenue to $488,284,468.
Braster said the city focused the expansion on the business area of the Legacy district, but excluded Legacy West and Granite Park.
“This just makes a lot of sense. I think the development that’s happening there requires some upgrades, we need to be able to take care of that,” Council Member Place 2 Bob Kehr said. “At the same time, we have opportunities to actually do more development in this area.”
Explained
A TIRZ is a financing tool that local governments can use to finance projects and assist with economic development in a specific area, per city documents. Braster said TIRZ 5 is in effect for 25 years with a 65% increment, meaning most of the generated funds are going into redevelopment while the remaining 35% will go into the city’s general fund.
Braster said TIRZ 2, which is located in the city’s downtown area, has been the longest TIRZ in place.
“[Downtown] has been very successful,” he said. “Most of the money that we’ve collected in TIRZ 2 has gone back into city-owned properties and infrastructure. It just gives us a dedicated fund to help reinvest and make that zone better so it doesn’t compete with other needs across the city.”
The background
The city approved $20 million in economic incentives for a new AT&T headquarters at the former EDS campus Feb. 23. The new facility is expected to bring 10,000 new jobs to Plano by the end of 2039, per previous reporting.
Plano currently has four active reinvestment zones, including its downtown zone, a zone for the DART Silver Line, a zone for Collin Creek redevelopment and its Legacy area zone.
City council also approved a new zone June 8, TIRZ 6, that would help fund development at The Shops at Willow Bend. The city is working with the Dallas Stars for a proposed arena in the area, per previous reporting.
