McKinney just broke ground on a $300 million, 20,000-seat amphitheater. The city gave the developer $26 million in grants and 46 acres of land. Officials are projecting $3 billion in economic impact over the first decade.
This is not a drill. This is a suburb of 200,000 people betting that live music is the thing that will define its future.
And they're probably not wrong. The question is whether they're early—or late.
The Scorecard
Let's take inventory of what North Dallas suburbs have built (or are building) to attract visitors, employers, and that vague thing called "vibe":
Frisco — The $5 Billion Mile along the Dallas North Tollway includes The Star, PGA of America headquarters, FC Dallas Stadium, Riders Field, Dr Pepper Ballpark. Plus The Mix ($3B), Firefly Park ($2.5B), and the massive Fields development ($12.7B) with Universal Kids Resort opening 2026. Four million visitors a year to The Star alone.
Plano — Legacy West anchors the corporate corridor with Toyota, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, FedEx Office, JCPenney. The city is now investing in Texas Research Quarter ($4B life sciences campus), Collin Creek redevelopment ($1B), and Haggard Farm ($750M)—reinvention, not just entertainment.
McKinney — Sunset Amphitheater ($300M, opening 2026), plus the downtown square, which already has more restaurants per capita than you'd expect for a city that most people couldn't find on a map 15 years ago.
Allen — Credit Union of Texas Event Center ($52.6M, opened 2009), The Hub at The Farm, Stephen G. Terrell Recreation Center ($54M, opened 2024). Also: the high school football stadium that seats 18,000, because this is Texas.
(I realize I've now listed over $25 billion in entertainment and destination development across four suburbs. This is getting expensive. And that's before counting all the corporate campuses and school bonds.)
The Theory
The logic behind all this spending goes something like this:
- •Suburbs compete for residents and employers
- •Young professionals and families want "stuff to do"
- •Build destinations → attract people → attract employers → generate tax revenue → lower residential tax burden
- •Everyone wins
Frisco proved this works. The Star alone is projected to generate $23.4 billion in economic impact through 2042 and $187 million in city tax revenue. The Cowboys' practice facility created more economic activity than most teams do with their actual stadiums.
That's not spin. That's receipts.
So now everyone wants a Star. Or at least a star-adjacent thing.
Want help applying this?
Sofee matches your priorities to the right suburb
Tell us what matters — commute, schools, budget, lifestyle — and we'll show you which North Dallas cities actually fit. No spam, no sales pitch. Just signal.
Take the quizThe Problem
Here's what's interesting: when everyone has a destination venue, nobody has a destination venue.
The value of The Star was that it was the thing. You went to Frisco because the Cowboys were there. The restaurants and offices followed. First-mover advantage, critical mass, network effects—all the good stuff.
But if McKinney has a 20,000-seat amphitheater, and Allen has a 6,000-seat arena, and Plano has Legacy Hall, and Frisco has... everything... then the differentiation disappears.
You might be thinking: "Wait, isn't more entertainment good? Don't residents benefit from having options?"
Yes. Absolutely. If you live in McKinney, having a major concert venue 10 minutes away is nice. You don't have to drive to Fair Park or Fort Worth.
But that's a quality-of-life argument, not an economic development argument. The home-value premium—the thing cities are really paying for—comes from relative advantage. You move to Frisco because of The Star. If every suburb has equivalent venues, that pull disappears.
What the Data Doesn't Tell You
I don't know if McKinney's $3 billion projection is realistic. (They think it is. They have consultants who made spreadsheets.) I don't know if 70 concerts a year at the Sunset Amphitheater will cannibalize attendance at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas. I don't know if the market for "ultra-lux" fire pit suites in suburban amphitheaters is as big as developers hope.
What I do know is that every city in this corridor is making the same bet at the same time.
And that's different from what Frisco did. When Frisco built The Star, there was no competition for "major sports/entertainment complex in the northern suburbs." They were building into white space.
McKinney isn't building into white space. They're building into a market where Frisco already exists, where Live Nation already operates Dos Equis Pavilion, where American Airlines Center handles arena-scale concerts.
The optimistic read: DFW is growing fast enough to support all of it.
The pessimistic read: Somebody's going to underperform their projections.
The Home Value Question
So you're buying a house in 2025. Does any of this matter?
Maybe. Here's how I'd think about it:
Frisco already has the established entertainment infrastructure. The premium is priced in. You're not getting a discount because The Star exists—you're paying more because it already succeeded.
McKinney is the speculation play. If the Sunset Amphitheater works—if it becomes a regional draw and sparks surrounding development—homes near the US 75 / SH 121 corridor could see upside. But "if" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Plano has the corporate HQ density that actually drives values. Legacy West is nice, but Toyota's 4,000 employees matter more than the food hall.
Allen is the mature market. The Event Center has been there since 2009. It's not moving the needle anymore—it's just amenity.
The pattern I'm noticing: first-mover entertainment investments seem to have real value. Follow-on investments have less impact. And by the third or fourth suburb to build a destination venue, you're mostly just keeping up with the Joneses.
(Jerry Jones, specifically.)
Who Benefits From the Arms Race
Construction companies and developers. Obvious.
Residents who like concerts. More options, more artists, shorter drives.
Cities with tourism infrastructure. Hotels, restaurants, Ubers. McKinney's amphitheater site is designed to integrate with hotels and mixed-use development.
Workers in hospitality. 1,300+ jobs just from the McKinney project.
Who Doesn't Benefit
Taxpayers in cities that overleverage. That $26 million in grants has to come from somewhere. If the amphitheater underperforms, other city services absorb the gap.
Cities without entertainment anchors. Richardson, Carrollton, Irving—they're competing for residents against cities with flashier amenities. Their value proposition has to be something else. (Richardson: transit. Carrollton: affordability. Irving: jobs.)
Anyone who confuses venue proximity with home value. Living near The Star doesn't make your house worth more if your school zone is weak or your commute is brutal.
The Bottom Line
North Dallas is in the middle of an entertainment arms race. McKinney is betting $300 million that a 20,000-seat amphitheater will transform its economy the way The Star transformed Frisco.
They might be right. DFW is growing. Demand for live entertainment is high. The Sunset Amphitheater will be the largest music venue north of Dallas, which is something.
But differentiation matters. And when every suburb has a crown jewel, the crown gets diluted.
If you're buying, don't pay a premium for venue proximity. Pay for the fundamentals: schools, commute, tax rates, infrastructure. The entertainment arms race is fun to watch. It's not a reason to overpay for a house.
Go Deeper: All 14 City Reports
This ranking shows where capital is flowing. Our Deep Dive reports show you why it matters for your specific situation — with investment thesis, school analysis, neighborhood breakdowns, and risk assessment for each city.
Includes: Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney, Celina, Prosper, Southlake, Colleyville, Coppell, Richardson, Carrollton, Irving, Lewisville, and Flower Mound.