A Texas-based real estate development firm plans to build a series of multifamily buildings on the site around McKinney’s historic Cotton Mill.
The Cotton Mill Redevelopment Project is an upcoming mixed-use development planned for the southeast corner of McDonald and Elm Streets in east McKinney. The project will include four multifamily towers, two office buildings, artist lofts, an outdoor community area, and more.
Presidium Group, which has an office in Dallas, is heading up the roughly 32-acre development project, which is slated to break ground during the second quarter of 2024.
For the rental component of the project, Presidium plans to build four multifamily buildings totaling 1,135 units. The first apartment building will be a five-story, 252-unit structure and the other three will each be seven-story buildings with 318 units.
The project is expected to breathe new life into the district, according to Cotton Mill Manager McCall Casey.
“The Cotton Mill and Presidium’s shared vision of bringing this 113-year-old district back to its former glory starts with bringing the right amount of density to drive it,” said Casey during a recent city council meeting. “The seven stories of multifamily will bring the population to create a thriving district for all ages and cultures.”
As for the two four-story office buildings, city documents show that one will add 79,350 square feet of new office space while the other will add 115,200.
“It has been my goal to bring the Cotton Mill to the thriving facility that it once was — a cultural destination that complements the special aspects of downtown and the east side,” Casey said during the meeting. “We want to bring it back to its former glory. We are proud to be the caretakers, and we’re proud to be part of the East Side.”
The first phase of development is set to include the community space and the four multifamily buildings. The second phase will include the two office buildings and the artist lofts. The full project is expected to take between five and seven years to complete, according to Mark Farrell, Presidium’s president of development.
Once the project is complete, Farrell believes the area will be transformed into a multicultural district where people in the neighborhood can visit for dinner and afterward say, “Let’s take a walk, let’s go sit by a fire pit, let’s go look at the fountain or maybe go to the stage for some entertainment,” reported The Dallas Morning News.
The project is estimated to inject $933 million into the local economy over a 20-year period and generate $38 million for the city in taxes, according to an economic impact study by Catalyst Commercial Inc., reported by Community Impact. The study also highlighted that over 4,100 construction jobs and 400 retail jobs would be created through the project.
“We truly think that it could be a jewel of McKinney, a destination of the United States,” Casey said during the meeting.
The Dallas Express reached out to the Presidium Group to learn more about the project but had not heard back at the time of publishing.
The North Texas metro is becoming a hub for professional builders thanks to the region’s strong labor market, educated workforce, and relaxed regulations. Yet while development projects are springing up in cities like Frisco, McKinney, and Grand Prairie, Dallas has had difficulty staying in the competition.
Even though Dallas still has room to grow — particularly in Southern Dallas — new development projects under City Manager T.C. Broadnax are unfolding much more slowly. Part of the reason for the lower development activity stems from the City’s permitting process, which often results in long and costly delays, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
