Downtown advocates lament a lost opportunity. Preservationists say the city can now rethink City Hall on its own merits.
By Devyani Chhetri, Everton Bailey Jr., María Ramos Pacheco, Nick Wooten
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
The Mavericks are staying in Dallas for now. They’re just not staying where downtown supporters wanted them.
A new arena had become the centerpiece of plans by business interests to redevelop the City Hall site and attract new housing, restaurants, hotels and investment to the southern edge of downtown.
Now the Dallas Mavericks appear headed to the former Valley View Mall site, a move that many business leaders and developers say could cost Dallas its best opportunity in decades to remake downtown.
Those who wanted to save the I.M. Pei-designed building said the team’s decision offers the city a chance to take a more measured approach to improve downtown, fix City Hall and build the city’s tax base.
The city’s top officials, Mayor Eric Johnson and City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, focused on the upside of keeping the Mavericks in Dallas despite the loss of a potential downtown arena.
“We will continue working with the Dallas Mavericks throughout this process and will do everything we can to support the team’s enduring partnership with Dallas,” they said in a joint statement.
For downtown supporters, the Mavericks’ decision upends one of the city’s most ambitious redevelopment ideas: an arena-anchored entertainment district near the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
The question of what to do with City Hall remains unresolved.
“The Mavericks’ announcement doesn’t change the fundamental question regarding who will pay for City Hall repairs,” Say Yes to Downtown co-chairs Bruce Orr, Tre Black and Amanda Moreno Lake said in a statement. “The taxpayers should remain front and center in that conversation.”
The group, organized by former Mayor Mike Rawlings, has argued that redeveloping the City Hall site could provide an economic jolt to downtown while avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs.
Downtown developer Ray Washburne, who had offered his property in Founders Square to house city operations, said he was stunned at the choice of the Valley View site because of the lack of mass transit there.
“The road system is totally overwhelmed, and I don’t know what [the Mavs] are thinking. It just makes no sense,” he said. “It’s a slap in the face to South Dallas because those people who need the jobs and all, how are they supposed to get up there?”
The team’s announcement ripples through a series of interconnected issues: downtown’s future, City Hall’s fate and whether the city has the dollars to invest in fixing the building.
A divided City Council was expected to decide soon whether they needed to relocate the municipal government, possibly to match the Mavs’ July 1 deadline to finalize the new arena site.
For council members skeptical of moving City Hall, the Mavericks’ decision removes some of the urgency behind the debate.
“I see it as an opportunity,” council member Paula Blackmon said, adding that revitalizing downtown needs a thoughtful approach.
Council member Adam Bazaldua said the team’s decision bodes well for vacant land the city has been desperate to develop and keeps City Hall standing.
“This is why diligent leadership doesn’t count chickens before they hatch, as demonstrated by some council members’ willingness to make a generational decision that hadn’t yet decided on their new stadium location,” he said.
Split verdict
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis said a downtown arena “would have been a more uniting opportunity” but added that she was glad the Mavericks would remain in Dallas.
“The question of whether the current City Hall can prudently become a modern, efficient, functioning workspace to serve residents remains,” Willis said.
Council member Bill Roth, whose district includes the Valley View site, called the decision “a win for all of Dallas.”
The site selection also was welcomed by those wanting to preserve City Hall.
Chris Bowers, a member of the Save Dallas City Hall Coalition, said the Mavericks’ decision should prompt city leaders to focus on what he called “reasonable repairs” to the building rather than redeveloping the property.
Council member Paul Ridley said the Mavericks likely could not have assembled enough land downtown for a new arena and noted that the convention center project will soon open up nearly 30 acres for redevelopment.
While the Valley View purchase agreement helps the city retain the team in Dallas, the team already owns the former Texas Stadium site in Irving. It is unlikely that either of the cities will back away from a competition to lure and keep the team.
The move also shifts attention to another landmark in the urban core: American Airlines Center.
If the Mavericks leave Victory Park, city leaders and developers will eventually have to determine the arena’s long-term future.
Dallas City Hall Reporter
Devyani Chhetri covers Dallas City Hall. Before joining the Dallas Morning News, she covered South Carolina politics and presidential primaries. She went to Boston University for graduate school.
Dallas City Hall Reporter
Everton covers Dallas city government. He joined The Dallas Morning News in November 2020 after previously working for The Oregonian and The Associated Press in Hartford, Conn.
Local Government Reporter
María Ramos Pacheco is a bilingual reporter who covers neighborhood issues, environmental justice and all things city of Dallas-related for The Dallas Morning News.
Real Estate Reporter
Nick is a real estate reporter for the Dallas Morning News. He previously worked as a digital investigative reporter at 11Alive, Atlanta’s NBC affiliate. He’s produced award-winning state politics coverage and feature reporting at Georgia newspapers. Nick is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.
