The Dallas Wings will take over construction of their new Far West Oak Cliff practice facility from the city after the project fell behind schedule and went over budget.
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The Dallas City Council amended its agreement with the WNBA team to turn over development of the $81M facility at Joey Georgusis Park following a 13-2 vote Wednesday, The Dallas Morning News reported. The city will now contribute $57M to the project, leaving the rest for the Wings to cover.
Wings CEO and Managing Partner Greg Bibb said the new facility will help the team succeed and be an asset to the community.
“The cost of these types of facilities today are what they are and we are certainly not going to shortcut the construction and underdeliver for our athletes,” Bibb told the DMN.
The city and team broke ground on the nearly 71K SF practice facility in September, with plans to open it before this year’s WNBA season. However, construction delays have pushed that opening to April of next year, and the project’s budget has ballooned from $48.6M to $81M.
The facility is slated to feature two courts, a 3,800 SF locker room, more than 4,000 SF of strength and conditioning space, and multipurpose spaces for youth programs, local athletics and special events.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn called the city’s $57M contribution to the project an “obscene amount of money.”
“At a time when we’re talking about things like closing libraries, I think it’s pretty shocking that we would move forward with this kind of a number, and I will not be in support,” Mendelsohn said during the meeting.
Mendelsohn and Council Member Paul Ridley were the two opposing votes to the deal amendment.
The city is moving forward with renovations to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, with the facility eventually serving as the Wings' home arena. The renovated arena was also originally expected to be ready for this year’s WNBA season, but construction delays have pushed that timeline to April 2028.
Project management firm McKissack & McKissack is overseeing that project for the city. The council also voted Wednesday to reduce the city’s contract with the firm by $1.8M after taking the practice facility project off its plate.
Once the Wings move into their downtown Dallas digs, they could eventually be joined in the area by the city's NBA team.
Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said in January that the team had narrowed its options for a new arena to either downtown Dallas or the 110-acre site of the former Valley View Center mall just north of Interstate 635.
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