Plano voted down a proposition that would have approved five new taxes to help pay for the Dallas Stars’ planned hockey arena in the city.
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More than 56,000 voters, or 55%, opposed Plano Proposition A, according to unofficial election results published by the city. The item would have authorized new taxes on car rentals, hotel rooms, event parking, tickets and other venue activities to help pay for the $700M the city pledged to contribute to the Stars’ project.
Nearly 47,000 Plano residents voted in favor of the proposition.
The city-owned arena is slated to anchor the team’s $3B sports and entertainment district at the site of The Shops at Willow Bend mall. Plano staff estimated the new taxes could have generated as much as $1B in revenue, with out-of-town visitors having been expected to pay the bulk of that total.
Without the new taxes, Plano officials said the city will have to reassess its funding sources before taking further action related to the arena.
“The proposed redevelopment at The Shops at Willow Bend remains an important opportunity for our community,” Plano Mayor John Muns said in a statement. “We are committed to thoughtful reinvestment and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars as we consider what comes next.”
The Stop the Stars Arena group opposed the proposition, arguing its proposed taxes would have affected Plano residents and that the arena district could lead to future city-funded costs.
MMR Realty Advisors Managing Principal Victor F. Russell, who is working with the group, was pleased with the election’s outcome. Russell said he doesn’t believe the mall site makes sense for the arena since it is so close to the affluent Willow Bend neighborhood.
“If I had to put up $700M to build a stadium for one tenant … I'd be trying to figure out another location,” Russell said.
During Bisnow's Collin County State of the Market event last month, Stars CEO Brad Alberts said the election was important because it would have given Plano another option to assist with financing the arena. However, he said the project could move forward even if the proposition was defeated.
The Stars didn’t immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment on the election results.
Plano established a tax increment reinvestment zone in June for close to 900 acres around the Willow Bend grounds and along the Dallas North Tollway. That zone is expected to generate more than $1.3B in new property tax revenue for the city and about $245M in sales tax revenue during its 41-year lifetime.
In addition to the new arena, the 90-acre mixed-use district at the Plano mall site is set to include up to 2M SF of trophy office space, a pair of hotels, close to 1,000 residential units and more than 200K SF of retail, restaurants and entertainment options, according to the project’s developers.
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