The City of Frisco is moving forward with its development plans for the downtown area, recently approving a multi-million dollar contract for design services.
On February 21, Frisco City Council approved a $2,265,700 service agreement with Mesa Design Associates (MDA) Inc. to complete the final design work on the 4th Street Plaza in Frisco’s Rail District.
Under the approved agreement, MDA will design and prepare construction documents for the project that include a pedestrian walkway, expanded seating areas with overhead shade, a restroom facility, water features, an overhead stage structure, and landscaping, according to a letter of recommendation by Ricardo Sanchez, principal planner with the Parks Department.
The project is a part of the city’s comprehensive master plan approved in 2018 to add a pedestrian plaza on 4th Street in downtown Frisco between Oak Street and Elm Street.
“The conceptual design of the plaza has been consistent with the elements identified in the 2018 Downtown Master Plan Update and will be the basis for preliminary and final design of the improvements to be performed under a general contractor,” Sanchez’s letter reads.
The City’s vision to transform the Rail District into a more people-centric area was discussed at a February 27 town hall meeting with officials.
“Some of the main, major visions for downtown is concentrating on making the downtown people-centric,” John Lettelleir, Development Services Director for Frisco, said during the town hall meeting.
However, creating a pedestrian-friendly plaza around a heavily driven area has its setbacks, according to Lettelleir.
“At the end of the day, people still drive, and they’re going to have to have a place to park,” he said. “We don’t want to encourage surface parking lots because that takes away from the pedestrian feel.”
In addition to basic design services, MDA will use the approved $2,265,700 million to perform “audio/visual design of the stage components, 3D modeling of the plaza, public engagement, survey, geotechnical services, subsurface utility engineering, and franchise utility coordination,” according to the meeting document.
Official design work will begin sometime during the first quarter of 2023, with construction anticipated to begin at the start of 2024. Once construction on the plaza begins, the city expects a two-year timeline for completion.
The Dallas Express reached out to MDA for comment about the service agreement but did not receive a response prior to publication.
The rapid growth and construction in Frisco highlight the arduous building permit processes and slow turnaround times in Dallas that have reportedly discouraged some developers from pursuing major projects in the city.
