To say that northern Collin County, which sits just north of Dallas County, is having a boom would be an understatement. Development in Plano has been gradually growing for decades, as farmland has been turned into neighborhoods, nationally ranked schools, shopping centers, and 4,000 acres of parks. In Frisco, the growth started later but seems to be catching up quickly.
Many worldwide businesses have relocated to the Plano/Frisco line, and more are coming. Since 2013, FEDEX, Toyota, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, Nokia, and Liberty Mutual have all begun building new headquarters in Plano. These projects alone add over seven million square feet of office buildings near the Highway 121 Corridor. In addition, The Shops at Legacy and Legacy West are expanding with shops, restaurants, apartments and luxury condominiums, and additional office space to support the influx of employees that these businesses will bring. Legacy West is halfway completed, and 85 percent of the retail and restaurant spaces are already leased.
Currently, there are four projects in various stages of development in Frisco that have been collectively named “The $5 Billion Mile,” which refers to the fact that these four developments represent more than $5.7 billion dollars in development. One of the projects is The Star in Frisco, Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, which is a collaboration with the Frisco Independent School District and includes a stadium that will be shared with the Dallas Cowboys and the district, as well as rented for other use. In addition to the stadium and headquarters offices, the project also includes an Omni hotel, restaurants, and retail.
Another project, Wade Park, is a mixed-use development that will be home to a Whole Foods, iPic movie theater, and a Hotel ZaZa. The other two developments, The Gate and Frisco Station, are also large-scale, mixed-use developments.
As for the impact on real estate values in Collin County, all of this development can only serve to increase property values. The large amounts of money companies and developers are investing shows a commitment to growth for the long term, which insures that home ownership in Collin County is a great long-term investment. The reason these companies are moving to Texas, and Collin County in particular, is because living here is fantastic. We have no state income tax, mild winters, a central location within the continental united states, great schools, and relatively low property taxes.
As for the luxury sector, a high-end buyer can get a lot more home for their money in Collin County than in other parts of the country, particularly California and the northeast. When I work with relocating executives and sports professionals, they are always shocked at how much more house they can get in our area without sacrificing access to world-class restaurants and shopping. Because housing prices are not over-inflated in North Texas, the last housing crisis did not hit Collin County nearly as hard as it did other areas of the country. Economists predict steady growth overall here for years to come, which is the perfect condition for buying here now!
