Allen, Texas, just 20 miles north of Downtown Dallas, is making breakthroughs.

This once-sleepy town has become one of the fastest-rising tech hubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. High-tech employees account for 15.3% of Allen’s workforce, boasting a tech job concentration nearly 41.7% higher than the national average of 10.8%.

A key driver of this growth is the Allen Economic Development Corp., an organization dedicated to recruiting, retaining and expanding quality businesses locally.

Allen EDC CEO Dan Bowman said this tremendous expansion started on its main transit corridor: U.S. Highway 75.

“The city of Allen has seen this evolution with the growth of the technology corridor along U.S. Highway 75,” he said. “You can’t get this tech talent overnight. Decades ago, it was Texas Instruments. Then Raytheon came along, and now we’ve diversified our businesses across our Class-A buildings and manufacturing spaces.”

Bowman highlighted several key tech companies bringing fresh energy to the city of Allen. 

One standout is EagleNXT, a leading provider of advanced commercial and government drones that relocated to Allen from Wichita, Kansas, in May with the help of Allen EDC. The company now operates in a 33K SF facility to scale up drone production.

“EagleNXT chose Allen for surveillance testing purposes and because of our skilled workforce,” Bowman said. “We were able to home in on the right workers and help them build their client base without having to step outside of the area.”

Another tech company that has shown interest in Allen’s strategic advantages is BMK Pharmaceuticals. While the company already had a pharmaceutical compounding operation just south in Plano, the move to Allen provided it with a central location at “the nexus of State Highway 121 and U.S. Highway 75,” Bowman said. 

This area also offers prime tech flex or light industrial space to support defense spending and the semiconductor supply chain, he added. 

“Allen hosts critical component manufacturers like IntelliEPI, which received a Texas CHIPS grant, and Photronics, which handles photo masking,” Bowman said. “The local economy supports essential hardware industries, including fiber-optic cabling for harsh environments and communication components for military vehicles.”

Beyond manufacturing, Allen’s appeal as a tech hub is bolstered by its strong mixed-use infrastructure, featuring premier dining, retail and nightlife. This live-work-play environment is increasingly becoming a draw for developers and corporate executives to move there. 

A prime example is Watters Creek Village, a 52-acre walkable destination hub, which has become a major asset for corporate recruitment and retention as more tenants prioritize healthy, return-to-office environments, Bowman said. Tech companies like San Diego-based mobile consultancy firm MD7 have seen success by relocating to the One Bethany corporate campus at Watters Creek.

In fact, MD7 liked the area so much that it relocated its North American corporate headquarters to the campus in 2022. This past June, the company celebrated its success with a 13K SF office expansion to support its rapid local growth.

“When MD7 moved here from California, they thought maybe a fraction of their employees would relocate,” he said. “Now, they’re taking on additional space as more of their staff moved and have been blown away by the lower cost of housing, local amenities and Texas' business-friendly regulatory environment.” 

MD7 executives also pointed to Allen’s local school system and strong talent pipeline as assets to their company, Bowman said. Collin College provides specialized training throughout its 350K SF multibuilding campus to help upskill workers. Allen EDC is a conduit for this ecosystem, connecting companies like MD7 through the Collin College career fair and other local networking events. 

The city of Allen is just getting started. Several projects are on the way, such as 370K SF of new tech flex space at 121 Tech Park and the 100K SF Class-A office space at Allen Place.

Downtown Allen is also undergoing redevelopment with an 18K SF project that will repurpose the 1970s firehouse into a restaurant and retail space. This project will serve as the center of a $3M pocket park with a live stage for performances. Growth at Watters Creek will continue with One Bethany North, a nine-story Class-A office building slated to break ground in 2027 as the campus’s third tower. 

Down the line, Bowman anticipates that there will be more large-scale developments on State Highway 121, which will ultimately bring millions of square feet of office space and urban apartments to the market. Also diversifying the area, the EDC is heading a billion-dollar Kalahari Resorts partnership. This has the potential to generate $5B in economic output and more than 1,000 new jobs in the next decade. 

Bowman said he's excited for what’s to come as Allen enters its next stage of development across tech, office and retail sectors.

“Allen EDC anticipates these investments could total nearly $14B over the next 10 to 20 years as they build out necessary infrastructure,” he said. “We’re going to continue to play a pivotal role in supporting and incentivizing that employment growth.” 

This article was produced in collaboration between Allen EDC and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.