{"id":412563,"date":"2026-08-21T04:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/412563\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T04:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:58:10","slug":"revitalizing-downtown-over-17m-in-projects-to-spark-new-interest-in-allen-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/412563\/","title":{"rendered":"Revitalizing downtown: Over $17M in projects to \u2018spark\u2019 new interest in Allen | Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first phase of Allen\u2019s Downtown Catalyst Project<\/a> is expected to break ground this fall, bringing the $17 million development one step closer to reality.<\/p>\n

The big picture<\/p>\n

The 2-acre development<\/a> will reuse the original Allen fire station building, which opened in 1970, and add a new building to house 18,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space in Phase 1A of the project. It will have about six restaurants, including a cocktail and tapas concept with a rooftop patio, an Italian restaurant, a Tex-Mex concept, a sports bar, and two original businesses\u2014a \u201cfirst of its kind\u201d coffee and wine bar, and an ice cream and candy shop, said Jacob Cox, a partner at North Texas-based hospitality group Blender Brands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The project will also feature a public pocket park and a stage, Cox said. The park will be programmed with events and live music, which Cox said he hopes will attract visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that motivates people to want to come and hang out there,\u201d Cox said of the park.<\/p>\n

\"aerialThe project site is at the northeast corner of West McDermott Drive and South Anna Drive in Allen. (Rendering courtesy city of Allen)<\/p>\n

The development is one of multiple looking to bring new life to downtown. Gillett Commercial is planning a 12,000-square-foot retail building on a lot north of the Allen Public Library, which will act as an \u201canchor\u201d for the area, founder and developer Bucky Gillett said.<\/p>\n

Mississippi-based developer Blackburn Communities<\/a> and Plano-based developer Wolverine Interests<\/a> are developing a 352-unit multifamily project in downtown<\/a>, which is expected to break ground this fall, said Brent Weltner, partner at Blackburn Communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing plays a big role in downtown because you won\u2019t get the retailers unless you have a decent number of heads on beds,\u201d Wolverine Interests President Jim Leslie said.<\/p>\n

\"SiteThe project encompasses 2 acres and includes approximately 18,000 square feet of retail space. (Source: City of Allen\/Community Impact)<\/p>\n

The specifics<\/p>\n

The projects are all located in the Allen Tax Increment Finance Zone No. 2. The area, also known as the Central Business District, was established in 2006 to \u201cattract new investment and encourage revitalization,\u201d city documents state.<\/p>\n

Taxes generated in the district are used for improvements in that area, per the Texas Comptroller\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"chart<\/p>\n

The Allen Economic Development Corp.<\/a> owns several properties in the TIF Zone No. 2, including the former fire station. This first phase of redevelopment is a way to entice other business owners to come to downtown Allen, which would generate more tax dollars for the city, Allen EDC President and CEO Dan Bowman said.<\/p>\n

The TIF Zone\u2019s revenue is one funding source for the Downtown Catalyst Project, alongside funds from project partners Rough Creek Capital Services<\/a>, AEDC and the Allen Community Development Corp.<\/p>\n

To support downtown development, city officials identified several roads in the area in the 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan. Reconstruction work on Anna, Daisy, Coats and Belmont drives was completed in fiscal year 2017-18. More work is slated for Anna, Bonham and Boyd drives, Allen Communications Manager Kristi Soto said.<\/p>\n

The impact<\/p>\n

A revitalized downtown has been a priority for city officials since 2021 when a citizen-led downtown steering committee<\/a> was created, Mayor Chris Schulmeister said. The committee spent about a year discussing the vision for the downtown area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always a calling from the people in the community\u2014and having lived here as long as I have, I was part of that\u2014always wanting to do something downtown,\u201d Schulmeister said.<\/p>\n

Officials are hoping the project leads to economic growth. The Allen Chamber of Commerce<\/a> officials relocated their office within downtown, a move that Allen Chamber of Commerce CEO Kyle Jacobson said makes the organization \u201cpart of the solution\u201d for revitalizing the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to bring traffic to downtown and people to downtown, outside of your normal business hours during the week,\u201d Jacobson said.<\/p>\n

Allen Flower Shop<\/a> co-owner Ginger Kerr Collier said she hopes the development creates more awareness of Allen\u2019s downtown area and spurs more development further down Main Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce things [get] going, I think things will start expanding, and people will start coming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When the Allen Public Library<\/a> was built in the early 2000s, the site was specifically chosen with future downtown development in mind, Library Director Jeff Timbs said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was always the vision … at some point there would be downtown development and it would be good to have the library downtown as a way of attracting people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Quote of note<\/p>\n

\u201cThe citizens … are hungry for that unique thing. They don\u2019t want to have to go drive to McKinney for The Square [or to] Bishop Arts. They want their unique thing that feels like Allen,\u201d Bowman said.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

While there is no specific Phase 1B plan, Rough Creek Capital Services has exclusive rights to develop the area for three years, per city documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cDowntown can become its own economic engine, but you\u2019ve got to create that spark,\u201d Bowman said.<\/p>\n

Coming soon to downtown Allen:<\/p>\n

Fall 2026: Groundbreaking for Downtown Catalyst Project Phase 1AFall 2026: Groundbreaking for Blackburn Communities and Wolverine Interests multifamily projectEarly 2028: Project completion slated for Blackburn Communities and Wolverine Interests multifamily projectSpring 2028: Project completion slated for Downtown Catalyst Project Phase 1A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first phase of Allen\u2019s Downtown Catalyst Project is expected to break ground this fall, bringing the $17…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1242,69449,143964,143959,117730,143965,61765,143962,143963,78692,712,63279,110058,143961,143960,99102,160,162,161,78691,135105],"class_list":["post-412563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-allen","tag-allen-chamber-of-commerce","tag-allen-community-development-corp","tag-allen-downtown","tag-allen-economic-development-corp","tag-allen-flower-shop","tag-allen-public-library","tag-allenrsquos-downtown-catalyst-project","tag-blackburn-communities","tag-blender-brands","tag-dallas-fort-worth","tag-downtown-allen","tag-downtown-allen-catalyst-project","tag-downtown-allen-new-businesses","tag-downtown-allen-revitalization","tag-gillett-commercial","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-rough-creek-capital-services","tag-wolverine-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}