Downtown Dallas with overlaid question mark
Holy cow, Dallas City Hall needs to get a handle on downtown before there’s nothing generating revenue but apartment units.
That was admittedly dramatic, but it seems like one potential relocation after another lately. Whatever the reasons, mainstays of the neighborhood are looking for alternatives, and this should concern officials.
Here’s the latest on the next possible flight out of the downtown area and some related City Hall news:
Dallas Stars Consider Leaving Downtown Area
It seems the Dallas Stars are exploring their options, meeting with officials in different parts of the Metroplex to discuss relocating the franchise from American Airlines Center.
Granted, the venue is technically in Victory Park, but plenty of visitors stay in hotels in the city center, and it may as well be an honorary part of the greater downtown skyline.
Brad Alberts, president and CEO of the Stars, told The Dallas Morning News on Friday that the team has been in talks with a number of cities, including Arlington, Fort Worth, Frisco, Plano, and The Colony.
American Airlines Center. Credit: Visit Dallas
He said sports entertainment is more and more becoming a real estate business that needs to generate revenue year-round.
“I think the biggest problem that we have with staying in Dallas is that we don’t have that,” Alberts told the outlet. “We don’t control any of the real estate outside of the building. We’re looking for that opportunity that can create 365 day-a-year revenue outside and also having an incredible in-venue, in-arena experience.”
Whither the City Center?
No decision has been made yet, but a move out of AAC would be a double blow to the downtown area. The Mavericks are looking for a new stadium site elsewhere and hope to be out of the arena by the time their lease expires in 2031.
There’s also been talk of AT&T uprooting its downtown headquarters and heading to burbs. And, of course, there was the whole Neiman Marcus saga. In the case of the former, crime in the city center was cited as a potential motivating factor. As far as anyone can tell, corporate consolidation was behind putting Neiman Marcus Downtown in jeopardy.
Business migration to Uptown hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Even City Hall’s future downtown is uncertain, albeit that has more to do with the cost of maintaining the under-serviced building. Earlier this summer, developer Ray Washburne suggested 1500 Marilla St. would make a good spot for a new stadium and entertainment district. Any teams interested?
As for the Stars, they’re in the market for at least 75 acres to build out the kind of revenue generator Alberts was talking about. He said to expect a decision in the next several months.
There’s Still Redevelopment Afoot
It’s not all doom and gloom downtown, though. Last week, plans to redevelop downtown’s iconic Bank of America Plaza secured endorsements for a $98 million incentives package from the Downtown Connection TIF District and Downtown Dallas Development Authority.
The $409 million plan, a joint venture between developers Mike Hoque and Mike Ablon, calls for converting part of the tower into a mixed-use destination with 280 new hotel rooms, a new glass-and-steel hotel structure, street-level retail, and a skybridge across Main Street.
Bank of America Plaza redevelopment renderings. Credit: Hoefer Welker
Office vacancy in the neighborhood could also stand to get a boost from the redevelopment, with Ablon saying the project will render the tower “actually leasable,” according to DMN.
Hoque and Ablon hope to mint a new financial district with Bank of America Plaza serving as its center. Their project will go before the Economic Development Committee on Monday, and the full city council will hear about it on October 22.