The Toyota Music Factory has been lauded as the next big thing in retail: an inimitable mixed-use, entertainment-focused destination done right. But a tenant inside the property has abruptly closed its doors and leveled accusations against the landlord and property itself on social media.
Big Beat Dallas shuttered Tuesday with a since-deleted note on Facebook, first reported by GuideLive.
"We have been advised by our attorneys that we should discontinue our business operations as a result of the inability to operate with any efficiency due to the lack of parking efficiencies, the inability to operate the plaza as a result of landlord interference, and other material factors affecting our business," a note by Big Beat Dallas co-owner Billy Bob Barnett said on Big Beat Dallas' official Facebook page.
Barnett's lawyer, Friedman & Feiger's Larry Friedman, told GuideLive that Toyota Music Factory landlord ARK Group made promises it never fulfilled, in particular regarding the number of designated parking spaces for Big Beat Dallas. He said ARK promised Big Beat 1,500 spaces but then handed 500 over to another tenant.
ARK Group President Noah Lazes refuted the claim, telling GuideLive there haven't been parking complaints from Big Beat and that the center has never filled its 4,200 parking spots.
Friedman said another issue is the Texas Lottery Plaza was half the size initially promised by ARK. That open-air plaza opened March 19.
Big Beat Dallas opened in March, made up of five restaurant/bar concepts with live music. It fit squarely into the Toyota Music Factory strategy: The 250K SF center opened in September with 19 restaurants and an 8,000-seat concert hall. It is already seen as a driver of overall activity in Las Colinas/Irving and is part of a national push for more destination retail heavy with entertainment and restaurants.
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