Universal Parks and Resorts is building its newest theme park in Frisco, on a piece of land that is part of a 2,500-acre development that includes the PGA of America headquarters, two golf courses, a University of North Texas campus, and thousands of thousand homes.
But how did Universal Parks decide on a suburb 30 minutes north of Dallas for its new micro-park?
“Frisco has built itself into a brand that’s now nationally recognized, with projects like The Star and PGA Frisco and those kinds of things. And this is one that they really approached us about the project,” said Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney. “They were looking in this market and, I know, they looked at different sites in neighboring cities, and kept hearing the buzz of Frisco and decided this is where they wanted to go.”
The park, aimed at children ages 3-11, will occupy 97 acres at the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Panther Creek Parkway. Its footprint is less than one-fifth the size of Universal Orlando and less than half the size of Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington.
“I’m not really surprised that they decided to take advantage of the theme park industry trend known as micro parks,” said theme park expert and journalist Carly Caramanna. “They’re basically smaller footprint parks. They’re not like these mega parks that we’re used to. They’re intended for a regional audience and they’re quite meeting both needs from a consumer angle and for these major companies.”
Frisco offered Universal $12.7 million in performance-based economic incentives. According to the city, those incentives include $10.7 million in grants for infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, and $2 million in tax payments for materials issued over twenty years.
The park is a continuation of the northward expansion of the North Texas region, which included the passage of the CHIPS Act last year, said University of Texas and Dallas associate professor of public and nonprofit management James Harrington. That piece of legislation is expected to bring jobs to Sherman.
“We’re going to see a lot of jobs, high tech jobs coming to Sherman, which will extend that growth from McKinney to Anna, Melissa, Van Alstyne to Sherman. So we’re going to see that,” Harrington said. “And we’re also seeing tremendous growth happening within Collin County with the Toyota headquarters coming into Plano. We’re seeing huge investments, in entertainment like The Star in Frisco, the PGA resort, and Universal Studios. So I think it’s going to. to continue this growth.”
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Universal Parks and Resorts is owned by NBCUniversal, which also owns NBC 5. Universal Parks & Resorts currently operates theme parks and resort properties around the world including two locations in the United States in Hollywood, California and Orlando, Florida. The company also operates parks in Osaka, Japan, Sentosa, Singapore and Beijing, China.