The developer of a 20,000-seat concert venue being built in McKinney secured a deal to keep the project on track.
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Venu Holding Corp. closed a $60M sale-leaseback transaction with Store Capital LLC for the land beneath the Sunset Amphitheater and its parking garage at the northeast corner of U.S. Highway 75 and State Highway 121. Deal proceeds will repay Venu’s approximately $20M bridge financing from Ryan LLC and finish construction of the McKinney venue.
“Sale-leasebacks and public-private partnerships give us flexible, non-dilutive ways to fund our growth,” Venu founder and CEO J.W. Roth said in a statement. “This is another proof point that our model works, and we are just getting started as we build something this country has never seen in live entertainment.”
Originally announced in March 2024 as a $220M public-private project, the open-air amphitheater on 46 acres next to the Sheraton McKinney Hotel aims to attract national touring musicians and comedians. It was initially scheduled to open in 2026, but that was adjusted to the first quarter of next year as the project’s scope expanded.
The now-$330M project has faced some financing challenges after losing an important piece of funding, The Dallas Morning News reported. The McKinney City Council voted earlier this month to allow Venu to pursue the sale-leaseback deal to help complete the project.
Store Capital is an Arizona-based net-lease REIT that focuses on single-tenant operational real estate. It has investments in more than 3,500 properties across the U.S.
“Sunset Amphitheater at McKinney is exactly the kind of mission-critical, long-term asset STORE Capital seeks to own,” Store Capital CEO Mary Fedewa said in a statement. “We look forward to a lasting relationship as VENU expands its footprint nationwide.”
The city approved $18M in incentives for the project in 2024 as well as a combined $8M in grants from the McKinney Economic Development Corp. and the McKinney Community Development Corp.
In addition to fully covered seating areas, the concert venue plans to offer nearly 300 firepit suites and a members-only lounge named after its partnership with Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman.
Venu operates smaller venues in Colorado and Georgia and has projects under development in Houston, El Paso, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Its Houston-area venue will be a 12,500-capacity amphitheater in Webster. The $150M project is being constructed through a public-private partnership at Webster’s Flyway, a mixed-use development anchored by Great Wolf Lodge.
The entertainment-venue developer also recently partnered with Hunt Sports Development and Peak Curated Development on a planned mixed-use district to be built on the east side of Toyota Stadium and Soccer Center in Frisco.
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