North Texas Performing Arts is looking for a new home as it prepares to leave The Shops at Willow Bend.
What’s happening
The organization was informed last month that it was “going to need to vacate the mall within the year,” according to NTPA’s website.
The Willow Bend Center of the Arts was built nearly 10 years ago and features two mainstage theaters, two blackbox theaters, dance and rehearsal studios, and more.
The city of Plano confirmed in a Feb. 27 statement that the city has been in “earnest discussions” with the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League regarding a potential arena district at The Shops at Willow Bend.
A plan to redevelop The Shops at Willow Bend into a mixed-use development was approved in February 2024, before needing to be reworked in February 2025 due to the closure of Macy’s within the mall.
Since property owners Centennial adjusted the redevelopment plan last February, Dillard’s has closed its Willow Bend location, Neiman Marcus has announced its impending closure, and The Crayola Experience is “closed until further notice” according to signage on the business’s door.
Diving deeper
The Willow Bend Center of the Arts accounts for more than half of Plano’s performance space outside of school districts, NTPA CEO Darren Rodenbaugh said in a video statement.
He added that the center had nearly 500,000 visitors and staged more than 1,200 performances in 2025.
NTPA is “exploring all options” for a permanent home, according to the organization’s website. Rodenbaugh said the organization created a task force in September 2025, focused on looking at alternative spaces “in Plano and beyond.”
“While this is a major change for us, and it creates some very real challenges, we want to do everything we can to work cooperatively and constructively to support this redevelopment plan,” Rodenbaugh said. “To continue serving the thousands of families that depend on us, we must first secure a comparable new home.”
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