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McKinney Sports Complex Gets the Green Light … Finally
McKinney City Council voted unanimously on April 7, 2026, to authorize exclusive negotiations with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper, a Lubbock-based architecture and engineering firm, to lead master planning for a landmark McKinney sports complex at Bloomdale Road and Taylor Burke Drive.
The vote passed on the consent agenda without separate discussion or public comment. No residents spoke. No council member pulled the item for debate.
That is how a six-year, $27 million public land investment quietly moved into its next phase.
The negotiation period runs up to 180 days. If no agreement is finalized and presented to council by October 15, 2026, the authorization expires. Any final development agreement still requires council approval before a shovel touches dirt.
Parkhill was selected from four firms that responded to a competitive RFQ issued in December 2025. Three firms were interviewed in March 2026. Their scope covers feasibility studies, visioning sessions, recreation market analysis, community engagement, architectural programming, and conceptual design.
The McKinney sports complex does not yet have a defined tenant, a construction timeline, or a cost estimate. What it does have is 300 acres of city-owned land, a confirmed planning firm, and a $3.27 billion freeway about to run past its front door.
The Land Story Behind the McKinney Sports Complex
Most coverage of this project starts with the April 7 vote. The real story starts in 2020.
JEN Partners, a New York-based investor, purchased more than 1,100 acres in north McKinney from Brinkmann Ranches of Collin County. That tract became Painted Tree, a master-planned community developed by Dallas-based Oxland Advisors. The 230-acre parcel now targeted for the McKinney sports complex was carved directly out of that Painted Tree land.
In July 2021, the City of McKinney and the McKinney Community Development Corporation (MCDC) purchased the 230-acre Brinkmann Tract on the southwest corner of County Road 1006 and Bloomdale Road for $23 million. The city used voter-authorized bonds and MCDC funds. A separate 70-acre tract at Bloomdale and County Road 1006 had been purchased in 2020 for $4 million.
Total public land investment: approximately $27 million across 300 acres.
At the time, both purchases were framed as parkland acquisition. The city announced 700 acres of connected parks and open space. Oxland founder Tom Woliver endorsed the deal publicly, saying the city was “pleased to offer this tract” as a community amenity integrated with Painted Tree’s outdoor identity.
That framing is now evolving. The McKinney sports complex vision goes well beyond a passive park. City guiding principles approved in December 2025 call for a world-class multi use facility serving local, regional, state, and national sports demand with an economic development mandate built into the MCDC’s portion of the land.
This is not an unusual pivot for Texas municipal land strategy. Cities acquire land under one rationale and develop it under another as market conditions and leadership priorities shift. What matters for land professionals is that 300 acres of city-owned property in a fast-growing north McKinney corridor is now actively entering a development path.
Why the US 380 Bypass Changes the McKinney Sports Complex Equation
Every news outlet covering the McKinney sports complex missed the most important infrastructure angle.
TxDOT’s Blue Alternative for the US 380 bypass runs along Bloomdale Road through north McKinney. The finalized 8-lane freeway with frontage roads starts near Coit Road in Prosper, moves north, then travels east along Bloomdale Road before intersecting US 75 and reconnecting to US 380 near FM 1827 in east McKinney. Total project cost: $3.27 billion.
That alignment places a major freeway corridor directly adjacent to the McKinney sports complex site.
In July 2024, McKinney City Council voted to sell 2.8 acres of its own parkland at County Road 164 and Taylor Burke Drive to TxDOT for right-of-way acquisition. The city retained approximately 67 acres of parkland directly to the north. McKinney’s Director of Engineering Gary Graham said TxDOT worked to minimize impacts to the park site in their schematic design.
Taylor Burke Drive is the exact address anchor for the McKinney sports complex.
TxDOT was expected to award a construction contract in 2026 with work beginning shortly after. Right-of-way acquisitions were already underway as of late 2024, with businesses along the corridor beginning to close.
What the bypass means for the McKinney sports complex:
- Regional freeway access will be delivered directly to the site. An 8-lane limited-access highway adjacent to a sports and entertainment complex is a traffic infrastructure asset that comparably sized facilities in other markets spend years lobbying to obtain.
- Design constraints will need to account for the bypass footprint, noise envelope, and visual separation along the site’s southern and western edge.
- The planning timeline is live. Parkhill’s 180-day master planning window and TxDOT’s construction contract award are running concurrently. The two projects will need to coordinate.
This convergence is not accidental. McKinney has been positioning this corridor for years, supporting the Bloomdale Road alignment in multiple resolutions while simultaneously acquiring land along it.
The Broader Development Stack in North McKinney
The McKinney sports complex does not exist in isolation. It is one node in a cluster of simultaneous infrastructure and development decisions reshaping the Bloomdale Road corridor.
Earlier this year, we covered Creation Equity’s Long Branch development, a $1.3 billion mixed-use project approved at the northwest corner of US 75 and the future US 380 bypass. Long Branch includes 1,600 multifamily units, 135,000 square feet of retail anchored by a grocery store, a 318,600-square-foot office campus, a hotel, and six acres of green space across 155 acres. Read our full analysis of the Long Branch development and what it means for the US 75 corridor in McKinney.
The McKinney sports complex sits in the same bypass interchange zone as Long Branch. These two projects, combined with the Sunset Amphitheater under construction near US 75 and Spur 399, represent a deliberate stacking of entertainment, commercial, and residential investment at the city’s northern frontier.
McKinney recorded approximately $1.4 billion in new construction value in 2025. The city is now 76 percent built out. City projections suggest full build-out within seven to ten years.
That context reframes what the McKinney sports complex actually is. It is not just an amenity project. It is one of the last large-scale public land deployments available to McKinney before the city exhausts its developable inventory.
What the McKinney Sports Complex Means for Land Investors
The 300-acre McKinney sports complex site is city-owned, so there is no direct acquisition play on the parcel itself. The land opportunity is in what surrounds it.
A regional sports and entertainment destination anchored by freeway access on a bypass interchange creates predictable demand patterns: sports tourism, hospitality, food and beverage, training facilities, and ancillary retail. Landowners and investors holding unentitled or lightly entitled acreage along the Bloomdale Road corridor, along the US 75 frontage north of Spur 399, and in the Taylor Burke Drive area are sitting in the demand catchment zone for that build-out.
The window before bypass construction visibility and the McKinney sports complex master plan announcement get priced into comparable sales is narrow. Feasibility and conceptual design work under Parkhill will take months. A final development agreement goes back to council after the 180-day negotiation period ends. Construction is years away.
But land values do not wait for construction to start. They move on announcement cycles, infrastructure commitments, and entitlement signals. All three are now active in north McKinney simultaneously.
The McKinney sports complex, the US 380 bypass, and the Long Branch development are not three separate stories. They are one corridor story playing out across multiple asset classes.
If you are tracking land opportunities in Collin County or the greater North Texas market, contact North 40 Land Group for a corridor-level analysis of the Bloomdale Road and US 75 bypass zone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the McKinney sports complex? The McKinney sports complex is a proposed 300-acre sports and entertainment destination on city-owned land near Bloomdale Road and Taylor Burke Drive in north McKinney. The project is currently in early master planning, with architecture and engineering firm Parkhill, Smith and Cooper leading feasibility and conceptual design work following a council vote on April 7, 2026.
Where is the McKinney sports complex located? The site is at the intersection of Bloomdale Road and Taylor Burke Drive in north McKinney, west of US 75. It combines the 230-acre Brinkmann Tract with an adjacent 70-acre parcel, both within the broader Painted Tree development corridor.
How much did McKinney pay for the sports complex land? The city and McKinney Community Development Corporation spent approximately $27 million to acquire the two tracts: $23 million for the 230-acre Brinkmann Tract in 2021 and $4 million for the 70-acre companion parcel in 2020.
Is the McKinney sports complex part of Painted Tree? The 230-acre Brinkmann Tract was purchased directly out of the Painted Tree master-planned community, which was developed on land originally sold by Brinkmann Ranches to JEN Partners in 2020. The city acquired the tract from within that Painted Tree development footprint.
How does the US 380 bypass affect the McKinney sports complex? TxDOT’s Blue Alternative for the US 380 bypass runs along Bloomdale Road adjacent to the sports complex site. The 8-lane freeway with frontage roads will deliver regional highway access directly to the corridor. In July 2024, McKinney sold 2.8 acres of the adjacent parkland to TxDOT for right-of-way. Construction contract award was expected in 2026.
What is the timeline for the McKinney sports complex? The 180-day exclusive negotiation period with Parkhill must produce a final development agreement by October 15, 2026, or the authorization expires. That agreement then goes back to City Council for approval. No construction timeline has been announced.
Who is Parkhill, Smith and Cooper? Parkhill, Smith and Cooper is a Lubbock-based architecture and engineering firm selected through a competitive RFQ process in December 2025. They were chosen from four firms and are now leading master planning, feasibility, and conceptual design for the McKinney sports complex.
What happened to earlier developer negotiations for the site? The city held discussions with a developer in 2021 and 2022, but those negotiations were terminated. Planning stalled further in 2023 and 2024 due to a leadership transition in the McKinney Parks Department. Guiding principles were tabled in November 2025 and approved in December 2025 before the RFQ was issued.
How big is the McKinney sports complex site? The total site is approximately 300 acres, combining the 230-acre Brinkmann Tract with a 70-acre adjacent parcel. For reference, AT&T Stadium in Arlington sits on roughly 75 acres, making this site approximately four times that footprint.
What other major developments are happening near the McKinney sports complex? Creation Equity’s $1.3 billion Long Branch mixed-use project was approved at the northwest corner of US 75 and the future US 380 bypass, directly adjacent to the sports complex corridor. The Sunset Amphitheater is also under construction near US 75 and Spur 399. McKinney recorded $1.4 billion in new construction value in 2025.
References
- McKinney City Council Resolution 26-0273 — Authorization to Negotiate with Parkhill for Sports and Entertainment Complex Development, April 7, 2026 — https://mckinney.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15348116&GUID=2ACC6FF2-03CE-4FDE-91E2-CEF54810E2C4
- Community Impact: McKinney to Enter Negotiations with Parkhill for Proposed Sports Complex, April 8, 2026 — https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/mckinney/government/2026/04/08/mckinney-to-enter-negotiations-with-parkhill-for-proposed-sports-complex/
- Community Impact: McKinney Pays $23M for 230 Acres of Parkland in Painted Tree Development, July 30, 2021 — https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/mckinney/2021/07/30/mckinney-pays-23m-for-230-acres-of-parkland-in-painted-tree-development/
- North Texas e-News: McKinney Announces 230-Acre Parkland Acquisition Within Painted Tree Development, July 29, 2021 — http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_125419.shtml
- JEN Partners: Huge New McKinney Residential Community to Kick Off Next Year, September 2020 — https://www.jenpartners.com/huge-new-mckinney-residential-community-to-kick-off-next-year
- Community Impact: Blue Alignment Selected for US 380 Bypass Project, October 2023 — https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/mckinney/transportation/2023/10/19/blue-alignment-selected-for-us-380-bypass-project/
- Community Impact: McKinney Parkland to Be Sold to Allow for US 380 Bypass Project, July 19, 2024 — https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/mckinney/government/2024/07/19/mckinney-parkland-to-be-sold-to-allow-for-us-380-bypass-project/
- Barron Adler Clough and Oddo: TxDOT Selects Preferred Design for US 380 Bypass in Collin County, November 2023 — https://www.barronadler.com/blog/txdot-selects-preferred-design-for-u-s-380-bypass-in-collin-county/
- The Real Deal Texas: McKinney Greenlights Creation Equity’s Mixed-Use Project, April 22, 2025 — https://therealdeal.com/texas/dallas/2025/04/22/mckinney-greenlights-creation-equitys-mixed-use-project/
- TX3D News: McKinney Advances 300-Acre Sports and Entertainment Complex Plan, April 2026 — https://tx3dnews.com/mckinney-300-acre-sports-entertainment-complex-plan/
- The Texas Land Agent: Long Branch in McKinney — A $1.3B Mixed-Use Vision by Creation Equity — https://thetexaslandagent.com/long-branch-mckinney-creation-equity-development/
