McKinney Council Approves Amphitheater Expansion, Parking Garage, Short-Term Rental Rules

Mayor George Fuller said the council’s March 3 actions cleared key hurdles for the McKinney Amphitheater Improvements Project by authorizing property acquisition and easements for the site northeast of U.S. Route 75 and State Highway 121, adjacent to the Sheraton McKinney Hotel. Fuller called the venue “a game-changer” for McKinney’s entertainment and tourism sectors as the city moves to expand the amphitheater area and downtown parking.

At the March 3 meeting the council also advanced downtown parking plans and enacted an ordinance requiring all short-term rentals to register with the city annually. McKinney’s online agenda shows a consent-item entry, Legistar file 26-0171 with project code FC2634, titled “Consider/Discuss/Act on a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Fishbeck of Dallas, Texas for Phase I Professional Architectural and Engineering Services in Conjunction with the Downtown McKinney Parking Structure Project (FC2634).” The Legistar listing includes a resolution, scoring summary and proposal among its attachments; the publicly available excerpt does not show final action or a contract amount.

The amphitheater concept—marketed as the Sunset Amphitheater and linked in city documents to a $220 million development by Colorado-based Notes Live—calls for a 20,000-seat facility on 46 acres with more than 5,100 on-site parking spaces. Company projections cited in city reporting estimate the project could generate more than $3 billion in economic impact over its first 10 years of operation. Planned design elements in approved site plans include a 33-foot sound attenuation wall, an enclosed stage, 10-foot sidewalks, wider parking spaces, an eight-foot barrier along the southern perimeter, and premium amenities such as luxury fire pit suites, reserved seating and club suites.

The project’s approvals stretch back to earlier votes: a development agreement was approved in April 2024, and the site plan was approved by the council on Nov. 19, 2024 by a 6-1 margin. Councilmember Justin Beller cast the lone dissent on Nov. 19, citing noise concerns for neighboring communities. City officials and the developer have included sound mitigation measures in plans; Local Profile reporting states “some of the approved plans are expected to mitigate sounds coming from the amphitheater,” while WFAA reporting highlights the enclosed stage and the 33-foot sound wall.

Schedule and phasing remain in flux in public materials. Local reporting in late 2024 described construction as slated to commence in late 2024 with parking garages built first and the venue opening in 2026. A city brief tied to the March 3 actions lists the project as scheduled to begin in mid-2026. City documents and Legistar entries continue to show the project in a two-phase approach with parking garages constructed in Phase 1 followed by the amphitheater.

The council’s March 3 package also touched ancillary issues: members discussed a proposal for “hangar homes” without detailed public documents attached to the agenda, and the short-term rental registration ordinance formalizes a council request first made in 2024 to identify rental locations, ownership and contact information. Michael Kowski, president and CEO of the city’s economic development corporation, framed the venue as part of McKinney’s broader strategy: “We want to provide something that is especially unique to McKinney.”

Key transactional and technical details remain to be released. Public records sought by the city clerk should disclose parcel IDs and purchase prices for acquisitions and easements authorized March 3, the executed professional services agreement and fee schedule with Fishbeck if awarded, finalized vote tallies and ordinance numbers for the short-term rental rule, and the official construction schedule and traffic and noise studies that will govern on-site parking and intersection staffing during events. Until those records are posted, council action on March 3 advances approvals and authority to proceed but leaves critical implementation details and timelines unresolved.