As Plano’s Legacy District starts to reach build out, city officials are preparing for the area’s next phase of development.

What happened: At its Jan. 12 meeting, Plano City Council approved a $150,000 contract with Freese and Nichols to help with developing a master plan for the Legacy and Granite Park areas, which will include public outreach and evaluating how the area will evolve in the future.

What you need to know: City documents state that as the Legacy area approaches build out, “opportunities for rapid growth through new development have naturally diminished.” The area has also been impacted by shifts in the office market following the COVID-19 pandemic, which have “altered corporate preferences” toward hybrid or flexible office environments, city documents state.

How we got here: Recently adopted state legislation such as Senate Bill 840, which requires multifamily and mixed-use residential developments to be permitted in all nonresidential zoning districts, could impact future development patterns in the Legacy area.
 

The University of Texas at Dallas is now offering a Bachelor of Science in computational and geospatial science, combining two in-demand fields, according to a news release from the university.

The overview: The degree program began last fall as a collaboration between the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Students take a set of computer science courses in the Jonsson School, as well as courses in geospatial science from EPPS that cover subjects like drone and remote sensing, internet mapping and spatial data science.

Looking ahead: The program’s curriculum is currently built from classes already offered from both schools, but Chun said new offerings are in the works.

Catch up on some of the biggest news out of Community Impact's Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas from Jan. 12-16.

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AT&T to build new 54-acre global headquarters campus in Plano

The North Texas region continues to prepare for the FIFA World Cup.
Nine games are scheduled from June 14 to July 14 at Dallas Stadium, which will be the temporary name of AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Mitch Whitten, Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau COO, spoke at the Fort Worth Chamber Economic Impact Forum on Jan. 15 at the Kimball Art Museum on the impact of FIFA holding games in the area. 

The details: He talked about the impact of the games throughout the metroplex. Numbers from the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee expect 100,000 visitors per day, with an estimated economic impact in the region between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion.

Zooming in: TCU has applied to be a base camp for a team in the region, Whitten said, but FIFA has yet to announce, as national teams have until March to decide where they will train during the event.
FIFA has listed 64 possible base camps, but there are only 48 teams that will qualify for the World Cup.

Some Texas film industry leaders say the state is on its way to becoming the third “media coast,” joining Los Angeles and New York as film production hubs. A recent increase in state funding is helping buoy that growth, said Chase Musslewhite, co-founder of Media for Texas, an Austin-based nonprofit that advocates for the advancement of the state’s film industry.

The details: Through 2035, $1.5 billion in state incentives will be available for movies, television shows, documentaries and related projects created in Texas.

To be eligible for the program funding under Senate Bill 22, at least 35% of a production’s cast and crew must live in Texas and at least 60% of the work must be done in-state, according to the Texas Film Commission. Grant reimbursements start at 5% and go up to 31%, depending on how much a production spends and other aspects of the project.

The local impact: After SB 22 became law Sept. 1, some local governments across Texas—including Austin, San Antonio and Houston—expanded or launched their own film incentive programs.