Boomtown becomes big city
Economic evolution of Frisco reflected in next wave of big developments
Frisco is growing fast, turning from a quiet suburb into a busy city.
Its economic evolution has been heavily influenced by big developments like Hall Park and The Star. Now, a new wave of mixed-use projects is cresting that will shape Frisco in the coming decades.
Hall Park, originally a modest office park in the early 2000s, has recently transformed into a vibrant, mixed-use district with parks, retail, hotels and apartments. In 2016, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones opened The Star, a 91-acre development at Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway. It now features a 300-room Omni Hotel and major employers like TIAA and Dr Pepper.
Developers have taken lessons from those communities and others as they create the next generation of billion-dollar projects in Frisco. They showcase the latest trends in real estate in arguably the country’s hottest suburban market.
Fields West
Fehmi Karahan, the visionary behind Plano’s $3 billion Legacy West mixed-use village, is now developing a 162-acre upscale corporate village along Panther Creek Parkway and Dallas North Tollway.
Construction on the $2 billion Fields West began earlier this summer. It’s planned to be a massive business, retail and residential hub, similar to Legacy West — but larger. The mixed-use village is expected to bring thousands of apartments and homes, retail, restaurants, office space and two hotels to the more than 2,500-acre Fields development.
The density and array of amenities surrounding the office space exemplify the kind of workplaces that still appeal to workers even in the challenging post-pandemic environment.
“Today, the workforce wants quality of life,” Karahan said.
The wider Fields is expected to be valued at more than $10 billion at buildout. It’s already home to the PGA of America headquarters and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. Universal Studios is also constructing a $550 million theme park with rides, shows, restaurants and a 300-room hotel on the property. Nine residential villages and neighborhoods will feature around 3,500 single-family homes.
And the developer of Fields aren’t quite done. Karahan said they have 700 acres available along the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Route 380.
“We have that so we can accommodate relocations of corporate campuses,” he said.
Firefly Park
Northwest of Fields, at PGA Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway, another multibillion-dollar development is beginning to take shape.
After nearly a decade of planning, infrastructure construction on roads, water and sewer lines is finally underway at Firefly Park, a 217-acre mixed-use project spearheaded by Wilks Development LLC. Construction could take about a decade in total.
Phase one will include a 190-room Dream Hotel with attached office space, 230 townhomes, high-rise and mid-rise residential buildings, 130,000 square feet of retail and dining space and a 1,400-spot parking garage. A 5,000-square-foot private event chapel and a 25,000-square-foot amphitheater will also feature in this first phase, slated for completion in 2027.
With open space being more sought after, the development will also host a 45-acre greenbelt, what Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney has referred to as a “golden thread” linking a chain of ponds and lakes throughout the development.
In total, the project is expected to cost between $2 billion and $4 billion.
In addition to Wilks Development, other members of the project team include Dallas-based BOKA Powell, Boston-based Sasaki, Baltimore-based Hord Coplan Macht, Dallas-based Kimley-Horn, Amsterdam-based UNStudio and Austin-based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
Toyota Stadium
The rising popularity of soccer in North Texas, especially ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, combines with the hunger for mixed-use space in this project. Hunt Sports Group, which owns FC Dallas, plans to expand Toyota Stadium and surround it with 1.2 million square feet of office space, a 200-room upscale hotel, a 200-unit residential high-rise with ground-floor retail and dining, 30,000 square feet of additional retail and restaurant space, parking garages and civic spaces.
The project would redevelop existing surface parking lots west of the stadium, a city-owned lot at Main Street and Frisco Street, and vacant land owned by the Hunts.
For FC Dallas President Dan Hunt, this project represents a 19-year journey that began with his late father, Lamar Hunt, who died in 2006. The construction of Toyota Stadium was the last project Hunt worked on with his father, and this new development reflects their passion and vision for growing soccer in the U.S.
The total represents a total investment of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion, team executives said. On Sept. 17, Frisco City Council approved a deal that will provide Hunt Sports Group with $182 million in financing from sales tax revenue bonds issued by the city for improvements to the nearly two-decade old stadium.
Frisco Railhead
At DNT and Main Street, Heady Investments is putting together a $3 billion development called Frisco Railhead.
Plano-based Heady is still selling tracts within the 80-acre site but a lot of the land is spoken for and some of it is already seeing construction. Infrastructure work, which included utilities, roads and sewers, was completed in early November.
Four developers have purchased land within the Railhead, including Dallas-based apartment developer JPI and Jordan Wallace of Wallace Ventures.
JPI is nearly complete with the first phase of three residential complexes, totaling 1,280 units. Currently, 100 apartments are fully constructed and 30% of those have already been leased. Another 803 units expected to be available in early 2025.
Wallace, who acquired roughly 6 acres, will bring retail and a 16-story hotel to the site. The Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission approved a site plan for Wallace’s development on Nov. 12.
Heady Investments has already pre-leased 36,000 square feet of retail space, which will include a cryotherapy center, boutique salon and a sushi restaurant with an adjoining nightclub.
Plans are also underway for a $400 million, 32-story Las Vegas-style hotel on the property. Heady Investments declined to share additional details about the developer, operator or brand involved in the hotel. Construction on both hotels is expected to finish by 2026.
Frisco Railhead will also include 1.5 million square feet of office space on 18 acres, targeting financial groups and tech firms. Additional plans include a daycare, an upscale fitness center, a 5-acre central park with an amphitheater and a restaurant, and a 500-car garage with a rooftop movie theater.
Building the future
Many current developments highlighted in this story have been planned for years, even decades. They’re only possible today because of investment in schools, roads and other key pieces of civic infrastructure.
In 2022, the North Texas Tollway Authority launched a $160 million project to expand the Dallas North Tollway by adding a fourth lane in each direction between Sam Rayburn Tollway and PGA Parkway. The project also includes upgrades to the John Hickman exit ramp to Gaylord Parkway and the ongoing reconstruction of the northbound tollway bridge over Fields Parkway. Completion is expected by late 2025.
By 2027, NTTA will also complete a $460 million extension of DNT through Prosper and Celina. The project will add three main lanes in each direction from U.S. 380 to FM 428.
The expansion of the DNT and other highways allows for workers with who can afford homes in cities such as Celina, Anna and Melissa to commute to jobs in Frisco.
That continued investment bodes well for this current generation of mixed-use projects — as well as those that will follow.