Liv Development Plans McKinney Apartment Project

If you’re going to bet on the multifamily market thawing, you may as well do so in a white-hot boomtown. That’s what Liv Development has planned for McKinney, the site of its next North Texas apartment project.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based developer estimates the 205-unit apartment complex, named Livano McKinney, will cost $40 million, or about $195,000 per unit, according to a state filing that is subject to change. The developer aims to start construction in December and complete the project at the end of July 2027.

The 302,000-square-foot development, at the intersection of Alma Rd and Silverado Trail, will feature apartments and townhomes surrounding a clubhouse. The site is about 8 miles from downtown McKinney, a fast-growing suburb about 33 miles north of Dallas. Its population has increased almost 10 percent to 227,000 since 2020.

Multifamily developers in North Texas have dramatically pulled back on apartment building since interest rates caused development costs to balloon, and a historic number of deliveries resulted in declining rental rates and occupancy levels

Dallas-Fort Worth rents decreased 1.5 percent over the 12 months ending in May, according to Yardi Matrix. The Metroplex’s occupancy rate of 92.6 percent put it at third-lowest among the country’s 30 largest cities.

Industry experts predict the slowdown in development will give the market some momentum and push rents into the black by the end of this year or next. Operators like Liv Development are planning to time project deliveries with that anticipated rent-rate upswing.

Robb Crumpton founded Liv Development as Red Mountain Development in 2006. The company has three other Texas apartment buildings in its portfolio — Livano Kemah, at 800 FM 518 in Galveston County; Livano Pflugerville, at 3301 E. Pecan Street; and Livano Prosper, 400 West Fifth Street.