George Fuller, Mayor, City of McKinney

Invest: spoke to McKinney Mayor George Fuller to discuss the city’s ongoing economic development initiatives, including the Sunset Amphitheater, infrastructure projects, and public-private partnerships, highlighting McKinney’s efforts to attract tourism, improve local services, and foster collaboration with regional and state partners.

How will the Sunset Amphitheater impact the local economy in McKinney?

We’re excited about it. This is going to be a state-of-the-art, world-class facility here in McKinney, with an estimated economic impact of around $300 million annually. The amphitheater will have a seating capacity of 20,000 and will host about 50 shows per year. We expect between 800,000 and 1 million people to visit annually.

Of course, if you’re attending a concert that starts in the evening, you’ll likely have dinner in the area, or if not, there will be gourmet food and beverage services at the venue itself. The amphitheater is fully covered. We anticipate this will be a major draw not only for McKinney residents but also for people from Oklahoma to South Dallas and beyond. 

It’s a unique venue. There will be over 300 fire-pit suites, many of which have already been sold to corporations and individuals. This provides a new kind of experience, something not yet seen in music venues, though it has been common in sports arenas for the past couple of decades. This model emphasizes hospitality and experience, which is the business plan of VENU, formerly Notes Live, the company behind it. We believe this will have a huge economic impact and bring significant tourism to the city. It’s going to be fantastic for McKinney.

What are some other key milestones or achievements for the city?

Right now, we’re working on an extension for the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament, another world-class event that spotlights McKinney internationally. This event, much like the amphitheater, has a large economic impact, not just during the tournament week but during the months of preparation and teardown. 

We’ve also extended our partnership with the NCAA Division II Football Championship, which brings people from outside Texas, depending on which teams are playing. Additionally, we’ve recently opened the Tupps Brewery, a public-private partnership with the city. Tupps is a homegrown business here in McKinney and has been growing rapidly. It’s a fantastic venue, hosting numerous community events.

There’s also the new City Hall, a 185,000-square-foot building on the east side of Highway 5. This is part of our effort to catalyze development in that area. Plans are underway to turn the historic flour mill into a boutique hotel with a restaurant and rooftop bar. We aim to extend the vibrancy of our historic downtown to the east side, where there’s a lot of untapped potential.

We’ve secured federal and state funding to connect the east and west sides of Highway 5 with a pedestrian park, allowing easy access between these two areas. Overall, we’ve put a lot of effort into revitalizing the eastern part of the city, and it’s all starting to come together.

We’re also expanding our airport. We’re in talks with two major airlines to establish commercial passenger services. Currently, the airport generates over a quarter of a billion dollars annually in economic impact. When commercial services begin, we expect that number to jump to a billion dollars.

There’s so much more happening. We have been named the No. 1 residential market in the United States, and we continue to be one of the fastest-growing cities in one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas.

How would you describe the partnership you have with Collin College and how the new campus at the airport will drive growth?

We’re working with Collin College to establish a presence at the airport for aeronautics programming. This is significant for the region. Collin College now offers four-year degrees in a variety of fields, and they’re expanding their trade programs as well. We’re proud of the partnership we’ve built with them, whether it’s in healthcare through their collaborations with local hospitals or in aeronautics at the airport. 

Collin College is also in negotiations with a major Texas university to establish a satellite campus, though I can’t provide further details as it hasn’t been publicly announced yet. But we’re excited about what’s on the horizon.

What additional partnerships or collaborations are you pursuing to foster a business-friendly environment in McKinney?

We’re involved in a number of public-private partnerships and place great emphasis on business retention. For example, we work closely with some of our largest employers, such as Raytheon and Encore Wire, to ensure their continued success and growth in our city.

We’ve also had great success in preserving land for future use, particularly along the S.H. 121 corridor, which has allowed us to attract high-profile corporate relocations. The success of these businesses leads to further growth in entertainment and dining, supported by the influx of daytime traffic.

How is McKinney advancing in its effort to become a smart city through fiber connectivity?

We’ve made significant progress in laying the groundwork for fiber connectivity across the city. A couple years ago, we put out an RFP and RFQ to bring in a vendor to install the infrastructure.   We’re also discussing initiatives to extend fiber to our downtown area and other parts of the city, particularly the east side, which has historically lagged in technological infrastructure. Our goal is to have the entire city connected. What is especially interesting is that when we issued the RFQ, the dominant incumbent fiber providers have doubled down on McKinney by installing their fiber and high bandwidth technologies. Just the mere threat of increased competition has resulted in better service to our community. To date, we’ve seen fiber coverage in the city increase from 30% to 70% citywide in five years.

Public safety, healthcare, and education are also key priorities for city leaders. How are you improving these services?

McKinney consistently ranks among the safest cities in the state and the nation, according to FBI statistics. We owe that to our outstanding police and fire departments, as well as the support they receive from the City Council to ensure they have the resources they need.

For instance, our fire department has an ISO rating of 1, the highest possible. This is a testament to the investment we’ve made in both human capital and infrastructure.

How do you collaborate with neighboring cities, counties, and state and federal agencies to tackle shared challenges and advance mutual interests?

Up until recently, I was the president of the Metroplex Mayors Association, and I still serve on the Texas Municipal League (TML) Board for Region 13. We meet regularly with other city leaders across North Texas to collaborate on regional issues like mobility and economic development. 

One unique partnership we’ve entered into is with the city of Frisco and Plug and Play, a global innovation platform that connects startups with industry leaders. Frisco is focusing on sports and entertainment, while we’re focusing on AI and technology. This collaboration is a great example of how cities can work together to achieve shared goals while maintaining healthy competition.

What is your outlook for McKinney over the next two to three years?

Our top priorities revolve around navigating the challenges posed by state legislative actions. There’s been a growing trend toward centralizing authority at the state level, which threatens the status of home rule that allows cities like McKinney to govern more effectively at the local level.

For example, our ability to annex land has been severely restricted, which is causing issues with substandard developments in extraterritorial jurisdictions around the city. These developments often lack the regulations and infrastructure we would require, yet they still put pressure on our resources like roads, parks, and public safety services.

Addressing this tension between local and state governments will be one of our biggest challenges moving forward.