Visit McKinney’s board met Tuesday at McKinney City Hall for a short meeting that featured organizational updates on facility moves, property sales, hiring and finance committee results.

Board chair Katie Scott opened the meeting and a consent item to approve the minutes of the Nov. 26, 2024 Visit McKinney board meeting passed on a motion by Brian Medina and a second from Janie Pena. The board voted by voice; the chair declared the motion passed.

City staff and Visit McKinney reported that city departments have completed a move into the new five-floor city hall facility on North Tennessee Street and that public meetings will begin there in the next few weeks. Aaron, Visit McKinney’s executive director, said staff expect to host future board meetings in the new facility once construction of the temporary access roadway and adjacent work finishes.

Mike Kalski of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced that MEDC recently sold the amphitheater property adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel to the amphitheater owners; the owners plan to break ground on work in February and host a public event in spring. Kalski characterized the sale as a “big milestone” for the property and said the buyers intend to proceed with construction and public programming.

Aaron and staff also described a change in ownership and management at the Sheraton. He said the property now has a new ownership group and local management under TPG Resorts and Hotels, with Mandy Reed named director of sales; staff reported the new management group has offices local to McKinney and is actively partnering with Visit McKinney on sales and promotional work.

Finance committee chair Alicia Holmberg gave a brief finance update. Holmberg said the Visit McKinney store generated just over $70,000 in revenue for calendar year 2024, with roughly $20,000–$22,000 of that tied to solar-eclipse-related sales. She noted that some services and sundry expenses for events (including IT charges tied to the Billie Jean King Cup) temporarily pushed certain accounts above typical percentages and that staff are working on reimbursements from event organizers. Holmberg also reported that hotel-occupancy-tax revenue is trending above last year for October through December and that new hotel inventory (the Denison Hotel, which opened in late November) has begun reporting occupancy.

On staffing and operations, Aaron said the city and Visit McKinney are conducting recruitment for a fourth assistant city manager (citywide) and that Visit McKinney is hiring a digital media coordinator and a staff assistant for its store; nearly 200 applicants applied for the digital role and staff were conducting interviews the week of the meeting. Aaron also highlighted an upcoming event schedule including the PPA Open at Courts of McKinney (March 14–16), the International Girls Cup (April 16–20) and other partnership-driven events.

Whitney Nash reported the Visit McKinney grant committee has met twice with staff and plans to present a final grants framework at the February board meeting. Brian Medina reported marketing committee items including continued work on branding and a social-media hiring process with roughly 199 applicants and 11 interviews scheduled.

No formal board decisions beyond the consent approval were taken on the organizational items. The meeting adjourned on a motion by Keith Gall with a second from Whitney Nash.

The board will next meet on a date to be announced after final city hall construction milestones are complete.