McKinney seeks developer for first community land trust townhome project

A 20-home townhome project near Bridgeport Road and North Lake Forest Drive could become McKinney’s first Community Land Trust development, turning 3.6 acres near the northwest corner of the intersection, once zoned for office use, into a test of long-term affordability north of US 380. The plan also includes more than an acre of green space, making it as much a neighborhood-shaping project as a housing one.

The city posted a request for qualifications in May, asking for a developer to build the project. Cristel Todd, McKinney’s affordable housing administrator, said it would be the first effort pursued through the Community Land Trust model after City Council designated the McKinney Housing Finance Corp. as a trust in May 2024. Under that model, the trust owns the land, the buyer purchases only the home, and a long-term ground lease keeps the land tied to affordability. Todd said residents would pay for the lease, though the amount has not been set, and those payments would flow back into the trust for future housing opportunities.

That structure is designed to preserve public investment over time instead of letting the subsidy disappear after one resale. Grounded Solutions and Fannie Mae describe community land trusts as a shared-equity model that sells homes to income-eligible buyers at below-market prices while retaining land ownership and resale restrictions. In McKinney, the closest public benchmark for who can buy into local housing aid is the city’s homebuyer-assistance program, which serves veterans and first-time homebuyers and lists income limits up to $103,100 for one- or two-person households and $118,565 for larger households, with a one-unit purchase cap of $541,594.

The townhomes would land in a market where current McKinney listings already range from about $269,900 to more than $524,990. Against that backdrop, 20 units will not solve the affordability squeeze on their own, but they could show whether a land-trust deal can produce ownership that stays within reach for buyers who work in Collin County but cannot compete with market-rate pricing.

McKinney’s housing planning has been pointing in this direction for years. A 2020 study by Root Policy Research found needs for more rentals affordable to households earning less than $35,000, starter homes, workforce housing priced at or below $200,000, more product diversity and strategic redevelopment. A 2023 Neighborhood Preservation Plan for historic east side neighborhoods also recommended a community land trust, and council members later directed staff in July 2025 to look for townhomes, single-family infill lots and rehabilitation projects. On a site that was once slated for office development, the city is now trying to see whether a small land-trust project can become a durable ownership model rather than a one-time exception.