Maneuvering Through Collin County

Collin County will add between 2 million and 3 million residents by 2030. McKinney mayor Brian Loughmiller says the developers and city officials involved in growing McKinney from 2005-2025 will effectively build an entire new place. And McKinney isn’t the only one. With great growth comes great responsibility (or something like that) to grow smart. Mobility remains a top priority for all the cities and developers, and the panelists at Bisnow’s 121 Corridor event have plenty of experience in getting around the North Dallas area. 

Here are Mayor Loughmiller and McKinney mayor pro tem Randy Pogue. 

SWBC Real Estate president Terry Gwin remembers working on projects in The Colony and surrounding areas more than 40 years ago. He thought his bosses were insane for investing in land that took an hour to get to from Dallas. These days, Terry says the explosive growth is all positive, except for traffic and the lack of affordable housing.

Jackson-Shaw CFO John Stone says developers can mitigate mobility problems early on by planning early and communicating with city officials to take advantage of tax breaks or other incentives.

Craig Ranch master developer David Craig put up funds to install infrastructure in his master planned community long before sticks and bricks. David says this wouldn’t have been possible without a partnership with the City of McKinney. 

From a development standpoint, there’s no such thing as building enough roads. If planners do this well, residents won’t bother venturing down to Dallas when they have plenty of access to live/work/play options in their own backyards, Cencor EVP and head of development David Palmer says.

Here are David, Terry Gwin, David, panel moderator Henry S. Miller managing director Mark O’Briant and John.