Frisco approves zoning changes for massive development

Biggest rezoning in years paves the way for 2,500-acre mixed-use project

Frisco Development Services Director John Lettelleir with map of planned Fields development (Frisco, FHQ Development Partners)
Frisco Development Services Director John Lettelleir with map of planned Fields development (Frisco, FHQ Development Partners)

A slate of six zoning amendments approved by the Frisco City Council Planning and Zoning Commission will allow for the development of the 2,500-acre Fields property in Frisco, Texas.

The property, located on the northeast and northwest corners of Dallas Parkway and Panther Creek Parkway and the southwest corner of Legacy Drive and University Drive US Highway 380, received the largest rezoning in Frisco in recent years.

The commission unanimously approved six changes to the zoning of the development during its June 28 meeting. The development plan was adopted back in April 2020 to “allow for a mixture of residential product types ranging from single family to high density multifamily and a mixture of office, retail, commercial, and industrial uses across nine subdistricts,” according to the meeting documents.

Read more

The applicant, Fehmi Karahan, whose company also developed the 245-acre Legacy West project off Legacy Drive in Plano, recommended the amendments to accommodate changes to its development plan, adjust for market changes, and align with updates to City Ordinances.

The first major amendment included removing the public park that was planned to be part of the gated community within the development, The Preserve.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

“The planning and zoning commission approved the gated community for The Preserve. In the zoning exhibit for The Preserve, it showed a public park in the middle of it,” explained Frisco Development Services Director John Lettelleir during the meeting.

“Obviously, since it’s a gated subdivision, it’s exclusive, so you can’t put a public park [there]… so the change here recognizes that there’s not going to be a park in The Preserve.”

The next set of changes were an update to the side yard setback, the removal of distancing restrictions on alcoholic beverage sales, and a change to the open space requirements of the development. Lettelleir clarified that the latter change was not intended to reduce the open space associated with the Fields development.

“I want to be very clear, it’s not reducing open space, and it’s not reducing the parkland. If you had a park within that 2,600 feet, that’s meeting the intent of providing some type of open space within that distance, but it’s not changing or reducing the open space or the park,” he said.

The other changes regarded street widths and allowable signage.

The Fields development is one of the largest mixed-use developments underway in the city. In May, a planned high-rise development within Frisco’s northern border at 230-acre Firefly Park was approved, promising almost 5 million square feet of office space, 2,200 luxury residential units, multiple food and beverage venues, and 380,000 square feet of retail space, plus a music hall and outdoor amphitheater.