Dallas Stars Freeze out Downtown Dallas

Downtown Dallas is taking gut punch after gut punch this week.

It began with the Dallas Mavericks choosing the former Valley View mall to be the site of their new arena in North Dallas, and now that continues with the Dallas Stars moving to the suburbs, according to the Dallas Morning News. Both teams have leases at the American Airlines Center downtown that expire in 2031.

The Stars announced that they have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to build a new arena at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano. The letter is now on the Plano City Council agenda, and will face a vote during next Monday’s session. Team officials informed the city of Dallas Tuesday afternoon that they’re planning to move out of the American Airlines Center.

While the Mavericks have made headlines across the state with their ownership group openly pushing to legalize gambling in Texas and being loud about their intentions to move, the Stars’ final straw might have come last October.

The Mavericks sued the Stars, alleging that the hockey franchise was in breach of a 1988 franchise agreement that requires their headquarters to be inside Dallas city limits. The Stars have been headquartered in Frisco, a northern suburb of Dallas, since 2003. A judge sided with the Mavericks, giving the NBA team control of the arena. In April, the Mavericks dropped the damage claims against the Stars.

The Stars’ potential new arena will comprise about 90-acres in The Shops at Willow Bend. The site at 6121 West Park Boulevard won out over at least eight other cities, according to the publication. Other potential locations for the arena included Frisco, where the Stars are headquartered, alongside the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys at The Colony in Arlington and Fort Worth.

Construction costs are expected to be around $1 billion, and the initial lease would be set at 30 years. The city is expected to cowboy up $700 million in funding through bonds backed by a tax increment reinvestment zone.

— Hunter Cooke