The National Hockey League team plans to move from Dallas to a new arena at The Shops at Willow Bend. Plano City Council approved a nonbinding letter of intent from Dallas Sports & Entertainment LP, the Stars’ parent company, on June 8, clearing the way for the move.
“This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi said.
The gist
The arena will host the Stars home games, practices and camps, along with “other indoor sports, entertainment, cultural and civic events,” according to the letter. Also planned is a surrounding “mixed-use entertainment district,” developed by current property owners Centennial.
The $3 billion development will attempt to create a power play for the mall that some say has been skating on thin ice.
“If you look at Willow Bend Mall now, it’s basically dead,” council member Rick Horne said. “Now we have this opportunity to bring a top notch sports entity here, and it will continue to make the city vibrant.”
Council also approved a $15 million economic incentive agreement with Centennial that will assist with demolition of the mall and establish a new visitor’s center at the development.
Demolition is expected to begin in early 2027, Plano Economic Director Michael Talley said. Centennial CEO Steven Levin said there is “a good shot” that the arena will be ready when the Stars’ lease at the American Airlines Center expires in 2031.
Project funding
The arena’s construction will be partially funded by a newly established tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, a financial tool that funds improvement projects within a defined area with tax revenue growth.
The new TIRZ encompasses 896.94 acres along the Dallas North Tollway and will be used to fund the city’s portion of construction for the Stars arena, up to $700 million.
Plano Director of Special Projects Peter Braster explained that the baseline of taxable value within the TIRZ is established, and any collected revenue beyond that baseline in a given year will go into the tax increment fund to be reinvested in the area.
“This tool does not impact the current property tax rate for our residents,” Braster said.
The baseline taxable value in the Willow Bend TIRZ is $1.63 million, and will be active for 41 years. The zone is expected to generate more than $1.3 billion in new property tax revenue and roughly $245 million in sales tax revenue within the 41 years it will be in effect, per city documents.
“We’re doing everything we can to find a way to responsibly finance this investment,” Braster said. “[The arena] is an investment that we believe lifts all boats. Could we not do [a TIRZ]? Sure. Would we get the same kind of investment? Not at all.”
The new TIRZ will be Plano’s sixth, and its fifth active TIRZ, with the others being located in downtown Plano, along the Silver Line, around the Collin Creek development and in the Legacy area.
Braster said Willow Bend was a good candidate for a TIRZ for similar reasons that the tool was implemented at Collin Creek.
“The city has a history already with a mall that’s gone sliding into being defunct, with Collin Creek, and then it drags down the whole area,” he said. “It presents us a funding mechanism to fund the improvements, in this case, an arena.”
Also of note
Plano Mayor John Muns said that city officials “want to work with [Dallas Area Rapid Transit]” to improve transit options to the arena.
Andrew Fortune, Plano director of policy and government relations, said that no specific transit plans have been outlined yet but that city officials are “open to all forms of mobility.”
“Knowing that transportation is consistently one of the main priorities we keep hearing, it will remain at the top of our list of items to be tackling as soon as possible,” Fortune said.
A DART spokesperson said that the agency is “energized” by the opportunity to expand access in Plano and North Dallas, where the Dallas Mavericks are planning a new arena. The Mavericks currently share the American Airlines Center with the Stars.
The context
A lot has changed at Willow Bend since Centennial first acquired the property in 2021.
Redevelopment plans approved in 2023 were built around anchor stores Macy’s, Dillard’s and Neiman Marcus.
Nearly three years later, Macy’s and Dillard’s are closed, and Neiman Marcus intends to close its Willow Bend location in early 2027. Other large tenants, including the Crayola Experience, have also shut their doors.
Levin believes the arena will bring more stability to the development.
“The reality is that the mall started declining 10 to 12 years ago,” he said. “I love retail, but the reality is there is no business that we could bring to Willow Bend that would last 30 years like this.”
Levin said that the 90-acre district will be more than a place to watch hockey, saying it’s “still going to be that type of a project that is infused in the community.”
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Public input
Of 12 Plano residents that spoke at the June 8 meeting, 10 opposed plans for the new arena.
Plano resident Gary Carey expressed concern that the Stars could leave Plano following their 30-year lease at Willow Bend, putting Plano “in the same boat” that Dallas is in now.
“Sports teams constantly move,” Carey said. “I have concerns that in the future we’ll have a dead stadium instead of the vibrant retail area we’ve already approved.”
Speakers also expressed concern over potential traffic, noise and safety issues the arena could create.
“On game and event nights, we’ll have increased traffic on the tollway that’s already overburdened,” Carey said.
Levin said that Centennial is “very focused” on managing traffic in the development. Council member Steve Lavine added that the city can move forward with a traffic analysis following approval.
Stay tuned
Plano residents could have the opportunity to approve additional funding mechanisms for the arena through a potential venue tax election in November.
Staff is proposing additional taxes applied to visitors and activities related to the venue that include the following:
- Minimum 5% rate on short-term motor vehicle rental
- Maximum 2% hotel occupancy tax
- Maximum $3 per vehicle on venue event parking
- Maximum 10% rate on venue admissions
- Maximum $5,000 per game for each member of a major league team that plays in the venue
“By the public’s vote, these would be taxes that could potentially be enforced to bring in additional revenue not only for construction of the venue, but also the overall maintenance,” Assistant City Manager Doug McDonald said. “It applies only to a visitor or ticket holder. Someone who may be visiting our city for a game … will have additional tax.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source communityimpact.com ’
