News
BY SHELBIE HAMILTON
McKinney will see thousands of homes added through the development of two special purpose districts planned in the northern part of the city. While a municipal management district, or MMD, has been established for Honey Creek, the developers of the Colmena Ranch project are negotiating with city leaders and considering the possibility of establishing an MMD for the project, according to a presentation at an Oct. 15 McKinney City Council meeting. As these special districts are planned and proposed, city o cials are working to align the projects with existing plans that will supply infrastructure for north McKinney. Special districts to spur development in north McKinney
There are dozens of types of special districts, said Michael Quint, who serves as McKinney’s executive director of Development Services. He noted that some common district types include MMDs, as well as Municipal Utility Districts, or MUDs, and Public Improvement Districts, or PIDs. MMDs can be formed by the state legislature or by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. There are two special districts currently in McKinney—McKinney Municipal Utility Districts 1 and 2. Together, these districts comprise the Trinity Falls community in the city’s northeast sector. The creation of special districts speeds up the development of a portion of the city, Quint said. Special districts can also cause leapfrog develop- ment, which is what occurs when development jumps away from a contiguously developed area. As a result, additional work to extend utility lines and other infrastructure is required. “What we thought we would be planning and developing 20 years from now, we’re developing now through the introduction of these districts,” Quint said.
The gist The Colmena Ranch development would span about 2,450 acres, city documents state, which would make it larger than any other existing or planned special district in the city. An initial land use plan for the site includes nearly 1,400 acres dedicated to single family housing. Other planned uses include amenities, commercial developments and ex use space for land uses such as multifamily housing or o ces. The Honey Creek development, a project of Republic Property Group, will span over 1,650 acres and could include as many as 10,500 homes in a mix of housing types, city documents state. It will also include a minimum of 80 acres of land for commercial uses and other amenities. Republic Property Group Co-CEO Jake Wagner said the Honey Creek project will be north of $2 billion in value once completed. Diving in deeper Special districts are a nancing vehicle that allow developers to pay for large infrastructure improvements such as roads and water lines.
“These large projects require pretty signi cant infrastructure that will serve those projects but ultimately, really are regional projects,” he said. “They serve areas around the project ... [and] open up parts of the city from the tra c [and] utilities standpoint.”
McKinney MUD 2: 831 acres
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JAKE WAGNER, REPUBLIC PROPERTY GROUP CO CEO
Colmena Ranch MMD: about 2,450 acres
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Looking ahead City o cials are working with developers of the Colmena Ranch project and negotiating an agreement that would see the project annexed into city limits, Quint said. Details on the development timeline for the Honey Creek project are not yet available, Wagner said. The rst work on the project will connect Laud Howell Parkway from Lake Forest Drive to roughly US 75, Wagner said, noting that the work is expected to be completed by late 2027.
McKinney MUD 1: 1,070 acres
Honey Creek MMD: 1,649 acres
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SOURCE: CITY OF MCKINNEY, JOHNSON DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IMPACT
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