The City of McKinney Reinvestment Zone Number 1 board on Tuesday approved reimbursement funding to help cover extensive public utility work associated with the Union Bear adaptive reuse project at 308 West Virginia Street.

Staff presented the application from UB 33 McKinney LLC, describing the building as a circa‑1930 historic structure within the McKinney Town Center and the TIRZ boundary. The applicant’s packet listed total eligible expenditures of $943,103.64 covering utility infrastructure, fire suppression, environmental remediation and critical maintenance; because the application was submitted post‑work and exceeded project caps and the vacant/underutilized budget for FY2026, staff recommended denial of the full request and proposed an adjusted award of $125,739.12 consistent with category caps and the 50/50 match requirement.

Preston Lancaster, representing 33 Restaurant Group and the Union Bear project, told the board the team had invested more than $4.8 million in construction and over $1.3 million in eligible TIRZ costs, and that the underground water, sanitary and storm systems were in “terrible condition.” Lancaster said the applicant reimbursed the entire infrastructure rebuild to bring domestic water, sanitary sewer and storm systems up to modern standards and then applied for TIRZ reimbursement, requesting $622,161.90 specifically for those utility infrastructure costs.

Board members discussed precedent, pro‑rata reimbursement for future hookups and whether there were other parcels likely to connect to the new lines. City staff said a pro‑rata agreement exists for smaller lines but that few adjacent parcels were positioned to tie into the new infrastructure, meaning the cost largely benefitted this project and the public realm.

After discussion about the city’s aging downtown infrastructure and the public benefit of the work, Commissioner Hale moved to approve a reimbursement of roughly $623,000 to cover the applicant’s eligible utility infrastructure costs; the motion passed 6 in favor and 3 opposed.

Staff will document eligible items and coordinate the reimbursement according to program rules; the board’s action required no immediate budget amendment beyond the motion’s approved amount.