Those who have been worried about the Mavericks potentially relocating outside Dallas city limits can breathe a little easier, at least for now. It seems the NBA franchise has narrowed its list of possible sites for a new arena to the former Valley View Center in North Dallas and an unidentified second option downtown.
Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts told The Dallas Morning News this week that they were dedicating all of their “time and attention” to the two sites, “hoping to bring one of them to success.”
Welts had previously said the team would announce a site in the spring, but that timeline is no longer feasible.
“Right now, our hope is somewhere around July 1, the end of the NBA season, that we are in a position to be able to make a decision,” he said. “But a lot of that is out of our control, out of the city’s control.”
No doubt negotiations will be robust wherever the Mavericks land, with Welts describing the scope of the project as a “50-acre mixed-use entertainment district.” Previous reporting estimated the desired site would be between 30 and 50 acres.
Valley View — also known as Dallas Midtown — has plenty of room to house the kind of year-round revenue generator the Mavericks want to build. Spanning 110 acres at the corner of LBJ and Preston Road, the site had been sitting vacant for more than a decade before some work finally got going on the first mixed-use phase of Premier at Dallas Midtown.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn (District 12) touted the site as a potential boon for both northern and southern Dallas.
“Southern Dallas will get a massive increase in funding & development through the mall TIF!” she posted on social media. “This is a massive win-win for Dallas!”
This is incredible news! Hey @dallasmavs, I hope you pick Valley View, because North Dallas will welcome you with open arms, but ALSO because Southern Dallas will get a massive increase in funding & development through the mall TIF! This is a massive win-win for Dallas!
🤩🏀😍 https://t.co/RMUAAONiht
— Cara Mendelsohn 🟦 (@caraathome) January 22, 2026
The Mall Area Redevelopment TIF District links the Valley View-Galleria district with the former Southwest Center Mall district, now home to The Shops at Redbird. Ostensibly, the new development up at Valley View could help pay for needed public infrastructure improvements down south, which officials have been clamoring for to stimulate more private investment in that part of town.
Lack of public transit could be a consideration, as there is no convenient light rail access. Anyone wanting to leave their car at home would need to either use a rideshare or add some bus transfers to their itinerary. That being said, there’s plenty of space for a new parking garage or two.
If the Mavericks chose Valley View, they would only be the latest flagship Dallas enterprise to take their business up north. From Uptown to Plano to Frisco, northbound growth has been undeniable with companies increasingly finding that downtown’s inventory and setting is no longer what they need. And what the Mavericks need is space. The sports real estate game has changed, and teams these days want money coming in during the off-season, too — and this means attractions and uses on the property surrounding the arena.
So, where is this undisclosed contender downtown? There’s been a lot of speculation about the sudden push to offload Dallas City Hall, with observers claiming that officials at 1500 Marilla St. are planning to offer it up on a platter in a bid to keep the Mavericks in town. The scale of the project, however, begs the question: What else has to be sold to realize the team’s vision for a 30-50-acre mixed-use district?
City Hall, the plaza out front, and the parking in the back total only around 14 acres, so plenty more space would need to be scooped up. Depending on which direction the hypothetical site plans run, we could be talking about some interesting configurations with controversial implications at the horseshoe.
If the project’s overlay inched northward, that would put J. Erik Jonsson Central Library (which is due a “reimagining,” according to staff) and a data center in play. The library would be a tough pill to force down the throats of preservationists and others already critical of officials entertaining the notion of selling out the city’s civic center.
Shifting the mixed-use development slightly to the south, though, poses its own complications, depending on the final acreage. To the southwest lies the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center redevelopment. To the southeast, there are some churches, and a block away lies The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, which was the subject of a past relocation discussion last year.
A coalition of architects recently identified some vacant and/or underutilized acreage south of City Hall, but each on their own still doesn’t quite add up to the Mavericks’ current requirements.
The city council’s ultimate decision on whether to relocate from 1500 Marilla St. will likely be the first big tell. Officials haven’t exactly given themselves a deadline, but the speed with which they’re moving and the steps already taken (namely, soliciting proposals from downtown commercial property owners) have defenders of the iconic I.M. Pei claiming a fix could be in.
Of course, if negotiations don’t pan out, the Mavericks could always take their toys and go home — so to speak. The team’s majority owner, Miriam Adelson, does have prime mixed-use holdings in Irving.
The Dallas Mavericks have played at American Airlines Center since 2001. (Credit: Visit Dallas)
A report on the condition of City Hall is due this week, and the Finance Committee will be briefed on the results next month. As for the Mavericks, they’ll need to be in their new arena in six years when their lease at the American Airlines Center expires.
“We want to open in 2031,” said Welts, per DMN. “That means we’re on the clock.”