After Months of Speculation, Plano Enters Dallas Stars Arena Talks
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After months of speculation linking The Shops at Willow Bend to a potential new arena, a Dallas City Council member says Plano has advanced a proposal to lure the Dallas Stars north.
Council Member Chad West (District 1) said Plano’s pitch includes a Letter of Intent that has not yet been signed, as the NHL team continues its negotiations with the City of Dallas.
“It’s all part of doing business,” West said in an interview with Inside Texas Politics, which will air Sunday on WFAA. “I mean, the Stars, they want the best deal for themselves, and I don’t blame them for going out and getting it.”
Meanwhile, Plano officials declined to comment Thursday evening. A city spokesperson cited “competition within the region” as the reason for the city’s refusal to comment on “speculation or economic development projects until they are brought to Council for formal adoption.”
While nonbinding, a signed Letter of Intent would signal a significant step toward relocation. The franchise relocated from Minnesota as the North Stars in 1993. The team spent eight years at Reunion Arena before relocating to American Airlines Center in 2001.
Now, the Stars are shopping for a new arena site where they can own revenue-generating real estate holdings around the new arena itself.
“I think the biggest problem that we have with staying in Dallas is that we don’t have that,” Stars president and CEO Brad Alberts told The Dallas Morning News last fall. “We don’t control any of the real estate outside of the building. We’re looking for that opportunity that can create 365 day-a-year revenue outside and also have an incredible in-venue, in-arena experience.”
The team has been meeting with cities across the Metroplex in search of that kind of site. There’s one location cited often in local media reports: The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano.
The mall, located at 6121 W. Park Blvd., just west of the Dallas North Tollway, has been the subject of redevelopment plans in recent years after losing several longtime anchors, including Macy’s and Dillard’s, and the upcoming 2027 departure of Neiman Marcus.
Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate, a partner of Lincoln Property Co., is working to reimagine the 107-acre site as an outdoor, walkable district with retail, dining, residential, office, and hospitality offerings called The Bend. A major sports franchise arena could significantly accelerate that redevelopment.
The team would need to select a site by this summer to open an arena in time for the 2031-32 NHL season, according to reports. Their lease at American Airlines Center runs through 2031.
“[A]t the end of the day, they’re the Dallas Stars, and we need to do what we can to keep them in Dallas,” West told Inside Texas Politics. “They’ll never change the name to the Plano Stars. I don’t know why they would even consider that.”
Dallas has its hands full on the professional sports front this year. Not only is the city trying to keep the Stars in town, but it also has a Dallas Mavericks relocation to negotiate. The Mavericks are exploring a move out of American Airlines Center, but unlike the Stars, they have signaled a strong preference for staying in the Big D, with Valley View Center in North Dallas and an undisclosed (but widely speculated) site downtown as their two frontrunners.
West told CBS News Texas that City Manager Kimberly Tolbert has been in negotiations with the Stars and that he himself has been talking with the Dallas Stars CEO Alberts “quite often.”
A Stars relocation to Plano would mark a significant win for the Collin County suburb, which has attracted a wave of corporate headquarters relocations in recent years. Alongside Frisco and McKinney, Plano has been part of a broader northward shift in commercial real estate growth across North Texas.
For Dallas hockey fans, the question is whether the team’s name will continue to reflect its home.
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After the Dallas Cowboys relocated decades ago, surely the city has learned its lesson. Wishful thinking. Dallas has an opportunity. The Mavericks could take over the current Dallas City Hall site to build a new arena and mixed-use development which would likely give downtown the momentum it needs. Take govt. out of it. The city has failed to revive downtown.
The Stars should continue operating the AAC for the foreseeable future. We don’t need new stadiums! The Mavericks could trade their AAC stake for the City Hall site, or the Stars vice versa. If two major teams relocate to suburbs, as a Dallas-resident, I wouldn’t support either “Dallas-based” team. That’s the leverage Dallas has.