HNTB has been selected as the lead design firm for the Stars’ proposed new arena in Plano, Texas.
Stars President & CEO Brad Alberts said the team selected HNTB because of its fit with the team ownership group’s personality, as well as the firm’s understanding of the North Texas region. HNTB has a large office in Dallas and one of its key executives on the Stars project, Doug Mann, lives in Plano.
The project is a notable business win for HNTB, which often is involved in major league venue projects in tandem with another designer, whether Manica (Allegiant Stadium and the Chiefs’ new stadium in Kansas) or Bjarke Ingels Group (Las Vegas A’s’ stadium). The firm was a finalist to design the Commanders’ D.C. stadium.
“We’ve doubled in scale in the last few years and with that talent comes a new set of opportunities,” said Ryan Gedney, Chief Design Officer at HNTB. “We’ve always been a firm that could compete on any level in sports and entertainment, and so much of the effort, frankly, is making it known to the world. And I think that’s starting to be known.”
The Stars have played in downtown Dallas since moving to the city from Minnesota in 1993. They’ve shared a venue with the Mavericks since arriving in Dallas, including, since 2001, the American Airlines Center, but both teams appear poised to move to new venues when their leases expire in 2031.
In Plano, the Stars can put their brand front and center, while designing a seating bowl suited for hockey.
“The opportunity to build an arena that becomes a shrine to our team, our brand, our history, is exciting to the people that work for the Stars,” said Alberts.
In June, Plano City Council approved more than $700M in funding to support the billion-dollar-plus Stars arena proposal. More public voting approval is needed this fall to confirm a series of new taxes (primarily on out-of-town visitors) as funding sources for the $700M.
The Stars’ arena will be built on a site located west of the Dallas North Tollway in Plano. The Stars have partnered with the owners of The Shops at Willow Bend — Centennial Real Estate, Crawley Partners, and Waterfall Asset Management — on the development that will surround the arena and include entertainment, retail, dining, and public gathering spaces. HNTB is not designing the mixed-use around the arena, Alberts said.
The Stars CEO sees the opportunity to own sports-anchored real estate as “the future of our business. We have a tremendous market here to do the same thing and if we can execute and come up with a great real estate plan that supports and surrounds the arena, I think that can become a really sustainable business model for an NHL team in a market like ours with a ton of competition.”
The Shops at Willow Bend, a mall that opened in 2001, will be torn down to make way for the new development. If taxpayer approval and demolition proceed as the Stars and their development partners hope, work on the new arena would begin in early 2027.
HNTB to design Dallas Stars’ new arena in Plano, Texas HNTB