Dallas Business Journal: Enclave of 20 new high-end homes launched in downtown McKinney
By Bill Hethcock
Grading is underway on College Street blocks away from Historical Downtown McKinney, and new-home construction is expected to begin at the end of the year on a small community by Olivia Clarke Homes.
Home prices will start at about $685,000, and 20 homes will be available, according to the company.
The project will expand the downtown district to include the community of homes designed specifically to weave the enclave into the fabric of historical homes found downtown.
Plano-based Olivia Clarke Homes in partnership with Frisco-based developer Rockhill Capital & Investments announced the groundbreaking of the project, called College Street, on Tuesday.
Located a few blocks southwest of McKinney Square, the new community will provide homes inspired by the area’s historical architecture.
Once redeveloped, the old ballfield site will provide 50-foot by 20-foot lots for 20 homes ranging from 2,300 to 4,500 square feet.
“We’re excited to build homes that pay tribute to the historical homes that have been so beautifully preserved in McKinney,” Jennifer Johnson Clarke, founder and president of Olivia Clarke Homes, said in a statement. “Homebuyers have an appreciation and appetite for historical architecture, and we are carefully designing and building homes with charming, nostalgic details and smart finishes they will love for years to come.
College Street will offer three different two-story plans and a one-story plan starting with three bedrooms and two baths. Some plans will have an office. The homes will have a detached garage to complement the surrounding historical homes.
“We knew this could be a very special project, not only due to the location so near downtown McKinney, but also to offer new construction homes that tie into the historic charm of the area,” Ryan Griffin, managing partner for Rockhill Capital and Investments, said in prepared remarks. “This is a very rare product and we’re excited to see the buyer response.”
Year-to-date home-building permits are down 9% in McKinney, with 597 single-family permits issued in January, February, March and April combined. That’s the case in many of the suburbs north of Dallas, including neighboring Frisco, where permits plunged 45% from 1,134 permits in the first four months of 2021 to 624 in the same timeframe this year.
Houston-based First Continental was the lender for the College Street project.
Olivia Clarke Homes was founded in 2021 by industry veteran Jennifer Johnson Clarke as a North Texas homebuilding company focused on designing houses around the needs of the modern family.
Rockhill Capital & Investments is a commercial and residential turnkey developer in North Texas with deep expertise in land development and construction management.