For developer and investor Ray Washburne, the announcements represent a significant moment for the city’s urban core.
DALLAS, Texas — As the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars move forward with plans to leave the American Airlines Center, questions are emerging about what the future holds for downtown Dallas and Victory Park.
For developer and investor Ray Washburne, the announcements represent a significant moment for the city’s urban core.
“This is the area of town that we have here and now to make something happen,” Washburne said. “This is opportunity.”
Washburne has spent years investing in downtown Dallas. His holdings include the former Dallas Morning News building, Founders Square, the former Greyhound bus station, and other properties near the city’s convention center district.
The Mavericks recently announced plans to build a new arena approximately 12 miles north of downtown near LBJ Freeway.
The Stars, meanwhile, signed a non-binding letter of intent with the City of Plano to pursue a new arena and entertainment district at the former Shops at Willow Bend site.
If both moves become reality, downtown Dallas would lose two of its largest attractions and economic drivers.
For more than two decades, events at the American Airlines Center have helped draw millions of visitors to restaurants, bars, hotels and businesses throughout Victory Park and downtown.
Now, civic leaders, developers, and business owners are beginning to consider what comes next.
“This is the authentic part of Dallas, and no one knows about it,” Washburne said.
While some view the departures as a setback, Washburne believes downtown still has assets that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
“Dallas needs an authentic experience,” he said. “You’re not getting that in the suburbs.”
Washburne pointed to ongoing development projects near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as one possible path forward.
He shared plans that include a large hotel development connected to the convention center district.
“My intent is to build a thousand-room hotel that connects to the Omni, the convention center and the Hyatt, along with the city needing another 2,000 rooms in addition to that,” Washburne said.
He also believes Dallas College’s planned downtown campus could help attract more activity to the city’s core throughout the year.
Former Dallas City Manager Ted Benavides said cities are constantly evolving and that Dallas now faces the challenge of maintaining a vibrant downtown even as major attractions look elsewhere.
“Dallas is a place of opportunity, and we need to work that,” Benavides said. “I think it’s important that Dallas stays — that the core stays good.”
For Washburne, the loss of the Mavericks and Stars would be significant.
But he says the larger issue facing Dallas is what comes next.
As two major franchises prepare to leave downtown, city leaders, developers and residents will be watching to see whether Dallas can once again reinvent its urban core.