Hotel and other buildings rise from the ground at $550M project.
FRISCO, Texas — Nearly two years after Universal Studios announced plans for a $550 million theme park in Frisco, the highly anticipated attraction is taking shape on a 97-acre site at the northeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Panther Creek Parkway.
Upon full buildout, Universal Kids Resort will feature rides, shows, a 300-room hotel and a range of restaurants and shops. Construction crews began work in 2023, with the goal of completing the complex and opening it to the public in 2026. The development team includes general contractor Balfour Beatty, architect Gensler and utility contractor Moss Utilities LLC.
While Universal has been tight-lipped about progress on the park, construction is advancing swiftly. Progress can be seen in the slideshow at the top of this story, with aerial photos from late December courtesy of YouTube channel Texney, which has been closely following the development.
The park will be smaller than the Universal Resort in Orlando, Florida. Yet the Frisco project is still expected to provide a jolt of new jobs and new tourism spending in the city north of Dallas. A March 2023 analysis estimated the park could draw 7,500 guests on an average day and 20,000 guests on peak days, such as holidays and during summer vacation.
The resort’s operating hours will be from about 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The park and themed hotel, which are designed specifically for families with young children, will be based on Universal characters and stories.
Universal Kids Resort is just one part of the larger 2,500-acre Fields development, which is already home to the PGA of Americas headquarters and the $520 million Omni PGA Frisco Resort. Fields will also include thousands of high-end homes spread across multiple neighborhoods, with construction already underway on multimillion-dollar homes in one of those areas, The Preserve.
Meanwhile, Fields West will be a 162-acre mixed-used project at the heart of Fields from North Texas developer Fehmi Karahan. Karahan is president and CEO of Karahan Cos., which is part of the joint ownership group for Fields along with Hunt Realty Investments, Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.
Fields West will include 4 million square feet of office space, more than 2,000 urban residences and 400,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space in roughly the next decade. On Dec. 5, the development welcomed its first luxury retailer, as Bloomingdale’s announced plans to open its first full-price location in North Texas. The small-format store is expected to make its debut in late 2027. A slew of additional Fields West tenants were unveiled later in December, including Kendra Scott, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.