McKinney | Townhomes and Multifamily

McKinney Townhomes, Triplexes, Quadplexes and Apartments, Including SB 840

McKinney has three districts built for more than two homes on a lot: TR1.8 for townhomes, MR for a mix of houses, plexes and small apartment buildings, and MF36 for apartments. Since September 2025 apartments may also go on some commercial and office land under the state's SB 840. This page gives the numbers for each path from the Unified Development Code (UDC) as restated on March 3, 2026. The McKinney overview gives the short version.

TR1.8 Townhome Residential

Sec. 204J says TR1.8 exists "to accommodate high-density townhome residential development." Table 2-26 permits townhomes, duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes there by right, and SB 15 small lots with conditions. A townhome, which the code calls single-family attached, is one home on its own platted lot, joined to the next home by a party wall, with its own utility meters.

Table 2-9 sets a lot of 1,800 square feet, 22 feet wide and 75 feet deep, and note 3 says the district "allows for meeting two of three minimum lot dimensions." Setbacks are 15 feet in front, 5 feet in the rear, 5 feet on an interior side and 15 feet on the street side of a corner lot. The interior side "may be reduced to zero feet" when buildings stay at least 10 feet apart. Height is 40 feet and density 24 homes per acre. Lots under 50 feet wide take access from a rear alley.

Three notes change the numbers for some lots. Note 4 requires a driveway of at least 20 feet from the required parking to the street or alley line for townhomes, unless the Director of Engineering grants a variance. Note 6 raises the height to 45 feet for a use that falls under Local Government Code 218.101, the SB 840 section. Note 7 sets a 20-foot front setback and a 35-foot height for lots in the H Historic Overlay. The summary table, Table 2-24, prints a 20-foot front setback, an 80-foot depth and a 35-foot height for TR1.8; the lot size page explains the conflict.

MR Mixed Residential: Seven Building Types

Sec. 204K describes MR as a district for "single-family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes alongside lower density multi-family buildings." Table 2-10 gives each building type its own column.

Source: McKinney UDC Sec. 204K, Table 2-10, as adopted March 3, 2026. Street-side setbacks on a corner lot are 15 ft for houses, townhomes and duplexes and 25 ft for triplexes and quadplexes.

By VanPlex arithmetic, 36 homes per acre is one home for every 1,210 square feet of land, so a 10,000 square foot quadplex lot is within the density cap with room to spare, and the lot size rule is the one that limits it. MR also has a residential adjacency rule. When an apartment or non-residential use shares a property line with a house, duplex, triplex or quadplex, or with a single-family zone, the building must be set back "25 feet for mixed-use residential or multi-family residential uses and 45 feet for non-residential uses."

Parking and Design for Triplexes, Quadplexes and Townhomes

Table 2-9 sets 1 space per home for a triplex or a quadplex, and "parking shall be accessed from a shared rear alley and covered." Enclosed parking, such as a garage, may replace covered spaces. Sec. 206E.4.g lists "Triplex, quadplex, mixed-use residential and multi-family residential uses" among the uses that may not use a parking study to lower the count.

Single-family, duplex, triplex and quadplex projects need no site plan, no landscape plan and no façade plan, which is the drawing of building elevations and materials (Sec. 203E). Their subdivision plats need a setback exhibit and a table of lot sizes. Sec. 308 requires a landscaped common area where such lots back or side to a street: 10 to 30 feet wide for lots backing a street, depending on the width of the street right-of-way.

For townhomes, Sec. 206F.4.b requires each elevation of every unit to be "a minimum of 85 percent brick, stone, or synthetic stone materials," and bars sheet siding made to look like wood lap siding. Sec. 206F.3 says the architectural standards apply "to all new development and Significantly Important Buildings in all zoning districts and for all uses within the Historically Significant Area," and Sec. 206F.2 cites Government Code chapter 3000, the state law that limits city rules on building materials. Ask the Planning Department where it applies the 85 percent rule before you price a façade.

MF36 Multi-Family Residential

MF36 replaced MF30 and the older MF-1 to MF-3 districts. Table 2-11 sets no minimum lot area, a 60-foot width, a 100-foot depth, setbacks of 25 feet in front and 20 feet in the rear and on each side, a height of 55 feet and a density of 36 homes per acre. Table 2-24 prints a 45-foot height for MF36 instead.

Next to a house, duplex, triplex or quadplex, or a single-family zone, Table 2-11 sets a residential adjacency setback by building height: 30 feet for one story, 50 feet for two, and 2 or 3 feet of setback for each foot of building height for three or four stories. Note 1 then says "Multi-family uses shall have a minimum residential adjacency setback of 25 feet." The City's 2025 staff presentation described the MF36 change as "Residential adjacency setback reduced to 25 feet." Local Government Code 218.102(a)(1)(C) bars a setback for multifamily housing that is more restrictive than the lesser of the commercial setback on the site or 25 feet.

Parking in MF36 and MR is 1 space per home, "of which, a minimum 30% of the spaces shall be covered." The site plan may lower the covered share to 20 percent when the project plants one tree per 20 feet in its street and adjacency buffers and adds one more amenity (Sec. 206E.4.d). At least 10 percent of an apartment site must be living landscape, and the street buffer is at least 20 feet wide.

Apartments on Commercial and Office Land

Local Government Code chapter 218, added by SB 840, makes a covered city allow multifamily housing, which Section 218.001 defines as "three or more dwelling units," on land zoned for office, commercial, retail, warehouse or mixed use. Section 218.102 bars a density cap below 36 homes per acre, a height cap below 45 feet, a setback above 25 feet, more than one parking space per home, a parking garage of several levels, a floor area ratio, and a rule that apartments include non-residential space. It also requires administrative approval, meaning staff approval with no Council vote.

McKinney answered in Table 2-26 and Sec. 206G.6. The table allows cottage multi-family in C1, C2 and O1, traditional multi-family in C3 and O2, and mixed-use residential in all five districts, each with the condition that it "is permitted by operation of law pursuant to TLGC §218." Table 2-15 sets the building rules.

Source: McKinney UDC Sec. 206G.6, Table 2-15, and Table 2-26, as adopted March 3, 2026. Every district in Table 2-15 sets a 20-foot front setback, no rear or side setback, and a 25-foot residential adjacency setback.

Sec. 206G.6 adds rules that apply only on commercial and office land. The ground floor "shall be a minimum of 14 feet and shall be constructed to commercial ready standards." Units must open from inside corridors unless the project picks ground-floor entrances as a site enhancement. Balconies may not face single-family homes or zones, except on cottage buildings of 2 stories or less or on façades more than 500 feet away. Traditional and mixed-use buildings need a façade offset of at least 5 feet deep and 10 feet wide every 30 feet. In C1 and O1 a building may not be longer than 200 feet. Parking goes inside clusters of buildings, and Table 2-9 sets 1 space per home with at least 75 percent covered or enclosed.

The City's 2025 presentation, agenda item 25-0004M2, split its proposal into two lists: "Standards for Compliance with State Law," such as 1 space per home and 36 per acre, and "Additional Proposed Standards," such as 75 percent covered parking, the 14-foot first floor, façade offsets and the balcony rule.

Where McKinney's Text Meets the Statute

• C2 specific use permit. The March 3, 2026 amendments made traditional multi-family need a specific use permit in C2. Section 218.101(b) bars a city from requiring a "special use permit" for multifamily on land zoned for commercial use. The statute controls.
• Light Industrial. Table 2-26 permits warehouses in I1 and leaves every housing use blank there. Section 218.101 covers a classification that allows warehouse use but not one that "allows heavy industrial use." The code does not say whether I1 allows heavy industrial use as the statute defines it, so ask the City.
• Airport. Section 218.101(c) leaves out land within 3,000 feet of an airport. McKinney National Airport is in the AP district; the airport page covers its height zones.
• Approval. Sec. 203E.1 gives apartment site plans to the Director of Planning, matching Section 218.102(b). A design exception still goes to the Planning and Zoning Commission at a hearing.

Amenities for Every Apartment Project

Sec. 206G applies to all multi-family and mixed-use residential development outside the McKinney Town Center district. Table 2-13 sets the amenity count, and projects in non-residential districts add the outdoor amenities in the third column.

Source: McKinney UDC Sec. 206G.4, Table 2-13 (numbered 2-13 inside Sec. 206G, a second use of that number), as adopted March 3, 2026.

Table 2-14 lists the accepted amenities, among them a fitness center of 500 square feet, a playground of 4,000 square feet, a dog park of 4,000 square feet, a swimming pool of 1,000 square feet of water, and charging stations for 3 electric vehicles. Guest parking at 0.75 spaces per home and a centralized open space of one acre each count as two amenities. Sec. 206G.5 also asks for site enhancements: one in a multi-family district and two on commercial land, chosen from a landscaped entry median, a private balcony or porch of 50 square feet per unit, a parking garage of at least two levels wrapped by the building, or ground-floor units with outside entrances. A small cottage project of 12 homes on commercial land would need 3 amenities in all, by VanPlex arithmetic from Table 2-13.

The plat comes after the site plan. Sec. 305A.2.d says that for multi-family residential development inside the city, "a preliminary plat may not be submitted prior to the approval of an associated Site Plan." The plats, permits and fees page lists the site plan and plat fees.

Where to Go Next

Related on VanPlex: the McKinney overview, the SB 840 page, and financing 2 to 4 units.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources (checked October 2026)