The Valley View Mall site has sat fallow for 13 years on one of the most strategically located parcels of land the city has, making it the right choice for the Dallas Mavericks, writes City Council member Bill Roth.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Every Dallasite following the debate over the future of our NBA team and our City Hall should share one simple goal: keep the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas. That is our North Star. The real question is how we meet that goal responsibly, without being forced into a rushed, high-stakes deal that trades away public assets and sidelines a broader plan for downtown’s future.
Lately, a narrative has been pushed that Dallas faces only two options: Either hand over City Hall and the land around it to secure the Mavericks or lose the team and forfeit any meaningful chance to redevelop downtown. This is a false choice. Dallas is capable of doing more than one big thing at a time. We can keep the Mavericks while still revitalizing downtown, without pretending the only path runs through the front steps of City Hall.
We know the Mavericks have placed a tract of land near Preston Road and LBJ Freeway — what many of us still call the former Valley View Mall site — under contract. The reality of this contract raises fair questions about timing, infrastructure and overall vision. But it also presents a solution that aligns with the team’s desire for growth on a major property that has sat vacant for more than a decade.
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Valley View is the right answer for the Mavericks, and it is the right answer for Dallas. The site has sat fallow for 13 years on one of the most strategically located parcels of land we have. An arena and entertainment district there would unlock that property, deliver new development, take advantage of strong highway access and solidify the Galleria as a regional destination.
Just as important, it can produce tremendous tax revenue — revenue that matters for the whole city, not just one neighborhood. The “barbell” tax increment financing structure ensures that the economic lift generated in one area supports improvements in another — in this case, southern Dallas. TIF revenue from the new arena site, which would benefit the Red Bird area, is an element that deserves more attention because equitable growth cannot be an afterthought or a talking point used only when convenient.
Downtown does not need an arena to thrive. It has venues, it has institutions, and it will soon have a generational catalyst in the new convention center. The door has opened for new housing, new hotels, new retail to service new residents, new tourists and new vibrancy.
Buildings are quietly getting traction again. New businesses are taking serious looks. Pricing is right, and quality projects are available. Anchored by the convention center, a thoughtfully reimagined City Hall can be part of the next chapter of downtown, not an obstacle to it.
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This moment is also a test for City Hall leadership and management. If we want developers and tenants to bet on Dallas, we must prove we can be a good partner. That means processing permits promptly, coordinating across departments and working alongside landowners through complex projects.
To attract the investment that downtown deserves, we should encourage capital to come in, welcome a diversity of uses and make the permitting and approval process genuinely user-friendly.
If we want businesses to bring their employees back into downtown offices, the city should lead by example. Activity attracts activity. People draw people. Prosperity follows.
Dallas must be realistic about the Mavericks. It is their choice to make, not a mandate for the city to manufacture. Our job is to keep them in Dallas, at a site that works, while embracing the opportunity to redevelop downtown around City Hall and the new convention center.
This is a win for all of Dallas. Keeping the Mavericks in Dallas and revitalizing downtown are not competing goals. They are the kind of dual challenge a great city meets with clear eyes, steady leadership and the confidence to reject false choices.
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Bill Roth represents District 11 on the Dallas City Council.
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