Frisco's Infamous '$3 Billion Hole' Fills In as The Mix Races to a 2026 Deadline
- Jun 9
- 7 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
FRISCO, TEXAS: For nearly a decade, the gaping excavation at Dallas North Tollway and Lebanon Road served as Frisco's most embarrassing landmark. Residents called it 'the hole on the toll.' It was dug for an underground parking garage that was part of the ill-fated Wade Park project, which collapsed when its developer filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and left behind a pit, unfinished concrete walls, and years of litigation. Today, that same 112-acre scar on the Frisco skyline is the city's most consequential construction site, and the clock is ticking on a deadline that will determine whether a $3 billion bet finally pays off.
A Year In the Ground and Moving Fast
Construction on The Mix, the massive mixed-use redevelopment that replaced Wade Park, has now passed its one-year milestone, according to Community Impact. The official groundbreaking took place on January 16, 2025, when city and development officials gathered at the corner of Dallas Parkway and Lebanon Road to mark the project's formal launch. In the months since, crews have been clearing remnants of the Wade Park era and preparing the site for its next life. One of the more staggering logistical feats came before steel was ever set: 50 million gallons of water had to be pumped out of the existing excavation pit before design work on Phase 2 could even begin, according to Community Impact.
The development is being managed by JVP Management, with Tim Campbell serving as head of development for The Mix. The scope of what is planned is difficult to overstate. When fully built out, the 112-acre site along the Dallas North Tollway will include 2 million square feet of Class-A office space, 375,000 square feet of retail, two hotels, townhomes, urban living units, and more than 16 acres of open green space anchored by an 8-acre central park, according to the city of Frisco.
The Phase 1 Deadline That Everything Hinges On
The project carries a $113.4 million performance-based incentive agreement approved by Frisco City Council in October 2024. The money comes from a combination of the City of Frisco, the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, and the Frisco Community Development Corporation, and not a dollar gets paid until milestones are met. The most immediate benchmark: all Phase 1 infrastructure must be completed by the end of 2026, according to the development agreement. After that, the grocery store and 80 percent of retail must be open by the end of 2027, and a medical office building must be finished by the end of 2028.
Phase 1 is designed to deliver real, tangible product quickly. That first phase calls for a 114,000-square-foot medical office building, a 40,000-square-foot high-end grocery store, roughly 33,000 square feet of additional retail space, and 630 urban living units, according to WFAA. It also calls for the first segments of a park that developers say will be designed with the same landscape firm behind Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.
The hole by the tollway has been a major outlier in our story and there is significant consensus in the community for that condition to change. Successful completion of the first phase of The Mix will close the book on that chapter of our history.
That language came directly from the city's own development agreement, signaling just how personally Frisco's leadership has taken the long-dormant site. The city is not simply a passive bystander here. Its financial stake and reputational investment make The Mix's Phase 1 deadline one of the most watched real estate milestones in Collin County this year.
The Underground Garage: Still the Biggest Wildcard
The original hole, excavated to house an underground parking structure, remains one of the project's most complex engineering challenges. The retaining walls from the Wade Park era are still intact, but Campbell has said his team will essentially need to redo the foundation from scratch before the garage can be built, according to Community Impact. That Phase 2 underground structure is planned to hold more than 3,000 vehicles and is not due for completion until 2033 under the city's agreement. For now, the immediate focus is on getting Phase 1 above ground and open before Frisco rings in 2027.
What The Mix Means for the Frisco Housing Market
The Mix is landing at a moment when Frisco's broader residential real estate market is undergoing a notable shift. According to Houzeo, the median sale price in Frisco was $652,500 as of late 2025, down slightly year-over-year, with homes sitting on the market for an average of 85 days and inventory supply stretching to 3.3 months. That is a meaningful change from the frenzied seller conditions of recent years. Zillow's Home Value Index similarly pegs the average Frisco home value at $673,986, down about 2.7 percent over the past year, with properties moving to pending in roughly eight days once a buyer commits.
Analysts following the DFW market are not sounding alarms. The market's fundamentals remain solid, driven by sustained corporate relocations and job growth across the region. The DFW area added an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 jobs last year, according to Kelly Pearson Realty Group, and over 120 companies have relocated to the broader metroplex in the past five years. That employment base continues to draw buyers to Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, and surrounding Collin County communities. Mortgage rates hovering around 6 to 6.3 percent through 2026 offer modest relief compared to the 7-plus percent peaks buyers faced not long ago, and analysts note the conditions now give buyers more negotiating leverage than they have had in years.
Within that market context, The Mix represents something beyond a single development. Large mixed-use projects along the Dallas North Tollway corridor historically lift adjacent residential values as retail and dining options improve and commuting options multiply. New construction in nearby master-planned communities including The Grove Frisco, which is expanding with Brookfield Residential adding new phases and opening a new Mainstay pool in 2026, continues to bring new inventory online north of Highway 121. Buyers relocating to North Texas from markets like Austin, Houston, and major coastal cities still tend to view Frisco as a premium destination for the school districts, quality of life, and proximity to major employment hubs.
Buyers and Sellers Are Recalibrating
For anyone trying to time the Frisco market in mid-2026, the picture is genuinely more complex than it was two years ago. Sellers who overprice are watching their listings sit. Buyers who were priced out or outbid during the 2021 through 2023 run are coming back to find more options and fewer competing offers. The average days on market in Frisco sat at 41 days in February 2026, about 11 percent faster than a year earlier, according to local market trackers, suggesting that well-priced homes still move. The challenge for sellers is that 'well-priced' now means something more realistic than it once did.
The Grove Frisco continues to attract buyers seeking new construction with resort-style amenities. Farther north, the Fields master-planned community adjacent to the PGA of America headquarters near Panther Creek Parkway remains one of the most closely watched luxury residential projects in the DFW market, with builders like Toll Brothers delivering homes against a backdrop of institutional-scale anchors. Those two projects, combined with The Mix's ambitions along the tollway, mean Frisco's real estate story in the second half of 2026 will be written on multiple fronts at once.
Why It Matters
In DFW, a groundbreaking ceremony and a signed incentive agreement are usually a long way from a finished building. What feels different about The Mix in mid-2026 is that the machinery is actually moving. Water has been pumped out. Walls are coming down. Deadlines are contractually binding and tied to real money. For a city that has spent years defending the eyesore at its most trafficked intersection, getting Phase 1 infrastructure across the finish line before New Year's Eve is not just a real estate milestone. It is a matter of civic pride. And for buyers deciding between Frisco and its neighbors in Prosper, Little Elm, or McKinney, the emergence of a walkable, mixed-use urban core along the tollway could tip the scales in ways that square footage and school ratings alone never could.
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