Explaining the Dallas Stars’ proposed Plano move: What’s next for their arena deal?

The Dallas Stars are one step closer to moving homes.

On Monday, the city council of Plano, Texas, approved the non-binding letter of intent the team initially submitted, allowing the city to consider developing a sports and entertainment district headlined by a new NHL arena. It is a starting point in a much longer relocation process for the Stars, who finished the 2025-26 regular season as the Western Conference’s second-best team before falling in the first round of the playoffs, but a significant one nonetheless.

“I’d like to thank (Plano Mayor John B.) Muns and the entire Plano City Council for their support, and their approval of our letter of intent and several other items connected to the redevelopment of The Shops at Willow Bend,” Stars chairman Tom Gagliardi said in a statement, referring to the area of Plano also known as Willow Bend Mall that serves as the site of the proposed arena district.

“We look forward to taking the next steps in the journey toward making Plano our new home in 2031.”

Last week, the Stars announced their intention to move to Plano, nearly 30 minutes north of their current home at American Airlines Center. The Stars’ current lease at AAC expires in 2031. That followed news of the AAC’s other tenant, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, unveiling new arena plans of their own in North Dallas, at the site of the area’s former Valley View Mall. The Mavericks also have a lease at the AAC that runs until 2031.

“Plano has built a reputation as a city that welcomes world-class partners and community-focused investment,” Muns said in a statement. “These actions are a significant first step as we evaluate the potential for a thoughtfully designed sports and entertainment district that reflects the priorities and values of our community.”

What does the Stars’ letter of intent really mean?

The letter indicates that the City of Plano and the Dallas Stars can negotiate an agreement to work together in the designing, building, operating and overall financing of a new Stars arena and its surrounding entertainment district.

According to the letter of intent, the city will commit up to $700 million in public funds toward the $1 billion arena, through bonds and revenue gained from a 30-year “tax incremental reinvestment zone” that will encompass the arena, the district site and non-residential buildings in the surrounding area. Reports have pegged the cost of the entire district project, arena included, at close to $3 billion.

While the city will technically own the arena and surrounding site, the Stars plan to sign a 30-year lease agreement for both that ensures they will retain all revenue earned from the arena’s operation, including through sponsorship and naming rights.

Why are the Stars moving at all, and why Plano?

The Stars want to play closer to what they say is the heart of their fan base. Stars team president and CEO Brad Alberts recently told the Dallas Morning News that an “overwhelming percentage” of the team’s season-ticket holders live north of Interstate 635, which cuts through Dallas and its surrounding suburbs. This includes the city of Plano, which has a population of over 290,000 people, according to the United States Census Bureau.

“We feel like this is going to be the center of the D-FW Metroplex population mass moving forward into the next two decades,” Alberts told the newspaper.

One of the Stars’ eight ice skating facilities is located in Plano, where they host youth skates and hockey tournaments. The Children’s Health StarCenter in Plano co-hosted the 2021 U18 IIHF World Championship.

The Stars wouldn’t be the only Texas team with roots in Collin County, where Plano is located. The stadium for Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas is located in Frisco, nearly 15 to 20 minutes away, as are the practice facilities for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

What does the LOI say about next steps?

The expectation is that construction would have to begin in 2028 for a new arena to be prepared ahead of the 2031-32 NHL season, according to the Dallas Morning News. Before then, per the letter, the city and the Stars will use their framework to co-produce an “Arena Master Agreement” and related documents — including design concepts, development plans and lease agreements — that will shape the building’s actual construction.

The city of Plano will hold community open houses, among other ways, for local citizens to voice concerns and suggestions for the project. There will also be traffic modeling and mobility studies to determine how the new district could affect traffic flow for vehicles and pedestrians in the area. The city and the Stars will also work with Plano’s transit providers to add more bus stops and routes and will look to add commuting options such as rideshares.

One of the renderings of the upcoming new Dallas Stars arena in Plano, Texas. (Courtesy of Dallas Stars)

What will the proposed arena district look like?

Renderings were unveiled during Monday night’s city council meeting. The letter of intent features two maps. One is an outline of the district on the grounds of The Shops at Willow Bend. The other maps out the tax incremental reinvestment zone, which stretches along the North Dallas Tollway.

The city and the Stars will discuss further plans for the arena and the district through their undefined negotiation period. The Shops at Willow Bend were built on 90 acres of land and first opened to the public in August 2001, before renovations began in 2018.

“The Shops at Willow Bend has long been in our sights as an ideal location for creating a vibrant destination that blends sports and entertainment, retail, dining, office space and housing,” Steven Levin of Levin Holdings, a real estate development firm that received an incentive agreement as part of the LOI and will work with the Stars and the City of Plano to develop the new district, said in a statement. “It’s an opportunity to reimagine this property as a place where the community can come together and where Plano can continue to grow and thrive.”

And how about the arena, specifically?

According to the letter of intent, the arena projects as a “first-class, multi-purpose facility that will be competitive with other comparably sized, publicly owned, indoor arenas recently developed for NHL teams.”

The new arena will be the Stars’ third home since the franchise moved from Minnesota ahead of the 1993-94 NHL season. The Dallas Stars first played games at Reunion Arena, located in the west end of downtown Dallas. They played there until 2001, when they moved to American Airlines Center.

The Stars are the latest NHL team with plans to move into new digs. The Calgary Flames will play their final season at Scotiabank Saddledome before shuffling into Scotia Place in 2027. The Ottawa Senators are planning to relocate to the city’s downtown core at an undetermined date; in the meantime, they will remove 600 seats to create a lounge at their current area, Canadian Tire Centre.

The last new NHL arena to open was UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., home of the New York Islanders since the 2021-22 campaign. Before that, it was the Detroit Red Wings’ Little Caesars Arena in 2017.