200-acre life sciences hub to reactivate Legacy’s anchor campus From the cover
1985 Electronic
What you need to know
Delivering the campus
Data Systems headquarters is built
The first phase of construction will include a new manufacturing building along with renovations to the main central building. Phase 1 Future phases
She added that nailing down a construction timeline was the most important aspect of finalizing the development agreement, as the lack of a timeline was a “nonstarter” for potential tenants looking to lease the space. “Pharmaceutical companies have [Food and Drug Administration] approval timelines, so they need to know that space will be delivered to them under certain parameters,” Bannon said. “This unlocks a lot of tenant recruitment.” The TIRZ will last through 2050 and will provide an “ongoing revenue stream,” Plano Director of Special Projects Peter Braster said. A TIRZ allows a portion of gains in appraised property value to pay for public improvements within the defined area. The city will contribute 65% of appraised value gains within the TIRZ, while NexPoint is working on agreements with Collin County and Plano ISD. The TIRZ encompasses a total of 703 acres to help support future developments in the area, Braster added.
The approval of a public-private partnership between the city of Plano and NexPoint—the company developing the Texas Research Quarter— have cleared the way for construction to start on the life sciences hub, which gained initial approval last November. Plano City Council approved a development agreement in August that will provide funding through the project via a tax increment reinvestment zone, and will allow the city to reimburse NexPoint up to $15 million through the first phase of development. The first phase of construction is expected to last around 18 months, NexPoint Chief Communications Officer Lucy Bannon said. Renovations are planned for half of the former EDS headquarters and an existing parking garage. The phase will also add a new 388,000-square- foot manufacturing facility. Bannon said the first phase is focused on flexibility, so the site can be adapted for changing tenant needs into the future.
Nov. 2023 Texas Research Quarter receives initial approval 2018 NexPoint acquires the site 2008 The campus is sold to Hewlett- Packard
LEGACY DR.
2045-2060 Full campus is built out Dec. 2024 Phase 1 of construction begins Mid-2026 Phase 1 is completed
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Why it matters
location north of Dallas will also give it certain inherent advantages. “They don’t have the room down there to grow and to build manufacturing space like we have up here,” he said. “And as people are moving up north, Plano has become the center of the metroplex in terms of job growth and proximity to people—so it makes a lot of sense that there’s an active hub up here in Plano.”
Bannon added that Pegasus Park is focused more on research and development, while the Texas Research Quarter will have a larger focus on manufacturing. “Companies successful in clinical trials at Pegasus will ultimately need to be manufacturing at commercial scale,” she said. “We hope, rather than looking at the coast, they’ll just move up the tollway.” McDonald said Texas Research Quarter’s
The Texas Research Quarter is the second major life sciences development in North Texas, follow- ing Dallas’ Pegasus Park. Bannon said the developments have a “comple- mentary” relationship, rather than a competitive one. “In order to be the true ‘third coast’ and compete with those really established life science clusters of Boston and San Diego, there can’t be just one game in town,” Bannon said.
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