{"id":130050,"date":"2026-01-20T06:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T06:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/130050\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T06:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T06:16:09","slug":"dallas-stars-relocation-could-benefit-suburbs-like-plano-or-frisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/130050\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Stars’ Relocation Could Benefit Suburbs Like Plano Or Frisco"},"content":{"rendered":"

Possible relocations of Dallas<\/a>\u2019 professional hockey and basketball teams could have wide-ranging effects on the region and on prominent northern suburbs like Plano<\/a> and Frisco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

Both\u00a0markets will have the biggest impact on Dallas-Fort Worth over the next five years, according to The Retail Connection<\/a> co-founder and President Alan Shor<\/a>. Each city\u00a0already has a strong retail market. But the future looks even brighter, thanks to huge projects on the way and the potential for a new sports-centric arena development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Willow Bend is fortunate enough to have its major transformation that’s being discussed, it’s going to be a boon for Plano,\u201d Shor said during Bisnow’s DFW Executive Market Kickoff 2026 event Thursday at the Thompson Hotel Dallas. \u201cTheir government is business-friendly and willing to be strategic and open up its wallet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Airlines Center<\/a> leases for the Dallas Stars<\/a> and Dallas Mavericks<\/a> expire\u00a0in 2031<\/a>, and each franchise is on the hunt for a new arena in the region. The Stars have\u00a0discussed Plano and Frisco, though the team\u00a0reportedly favors building a $1B arena<\/a>\u00a0at the site of the former\u00a0Shops at Willow Bend mall.<\/p>\n

Various redevelopment plans for Willow Bend have been announced and refined<\/a> over the past few years, but none have yet gotten underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Stars were to move to Willow Bend, the team’s ownership would need to contribute $400M to $500M toward the redevelopment costs, according to Dallas investor and Charter Holdings CEO Ray Washburne<\/a>. However, he said the team has the option to buy the American Airlines Center from the city in 2031, and converting it into a hockey-only arena would only cost $100M to $200M.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n Bisnow\/Billy Wadsack\n <\/p>\n

\n Charter Holdings\u2019 Ray Washburne, The Retail Connection\u2019s Alan Shor, Rosewood Property Co.\u2019s Rick Perdue and Kensington Vanguard National Title’s Zach Sams.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re the owner of the Stars, do you want to write a check for $500M to go out there?\u201d Washburne said, adding the team has a history of selling out the arena. \u201cYou think they’re going to sell another ticket by going to Plano? No.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Plano could be aggressive in its recruitment of the Stars, Shor said. A new arena would need less than a quarter of Willow Bend\u2019s 90 acres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That leaves 70 acres of development opportunities that could prove fruitful to the city, he said.<\/p>\n

If Plano leaves the Dallas Area Rapid Transit<\/a> system, the funds it contributes to that service could be used to entice the Stars to the city, Washburne said.<\/p>\n

DART is funded through a 1% sales tax in each of its member cities. Plano regularly contributes more than $100M in sales tax collections<\/a> to the agency each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City voters will decide whether to leave the transit agency\u2019s service area<\/a> in a May 2 election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Bisnow\/Billy Wadsack\n <\/p>\n

\n Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business\u2019 Maria Stamolis delivers a keynote address.\n <\/p>\n

Cities such as Frisco and Arlington aren’t part of DART, and Washburne said those cities use the funds they save to lure new projects and build stadiums.<\/p>\n

Despite the potential for a sports-centric development, Washburne said he doesn\u2019t believe a new arena is the best opportunity for Plano.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does that change the economics of that city? It doesn’t,\u201d Washburne said. \u201cThey can take that money and do so many different things, create greater economic activity for their city than building that arena.”<\/p>\n

Frisco has many of the same attributes as Plano, Shor said. Its population has grown exponentially over the past two decades, and the 2,500-acre Fields master-planned development will make Frisco even more important to the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first phase of that $2B project<\/a> will span 55 acres and include more than 1,100 multifamily units, 350K SF of retail and 325K SF of office space. The first elements of the project are expected to open late next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fields development is one of several high-profile projects coming to Frisco. Construction is also underway on the multibillion-dollar\u00a0mixed-use developments The Mix<\/a>\u00a0at the corner of Lebanon Road and the Dallas North Tollway and\u00a0Firefly Park<\/a>\u00a0at the intersection of the DNT and U.S. Highway 380.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first-of-its-kind Universal Kids Resort is also slated to open in Frisco<\/a> later this year.<\/p>\n

With their projects in the pipeline and\u00a0a history of attracting corporate relocations, such as\u00a0AT&T\u2019s upcoming move to Plano<\/a>, each city is well positioned\u00a0to continue to prosper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPopulation and job growth, that’s the key that triggers everything,\u201d Shor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Possible relocations of Dallas\u2019 professional hockey and basketball teams could have wide-ranging effects on the region and on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[55733,55734,2582,1115,240,160,162,161,55735,42168,28744,5231],"class_list":["post-130050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-alan-shor","tag-charter-holdings","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallas-stars","tag-frisco","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-ray-washburne","tag-the-retail-connection","tag-the-shops-at-willow-bend","tag-universal-kids-resort"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}