New Arena at City Hall Site Far From Certain, Mavs CEO Suggests
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For a hypothetical deal that seemed all but certain to critics just a few weeks ago, the prospect of a new Mavericks arena replacing Dallas City Hall at 1500 Marilla St. seems plenty uncertain.
Mavericks CEO Rick Welts acknowledged that the city would need to take action if it wanted the franchise to set up shop in the central business district. He noted, however, that even if the city council decided to relocate, a downtown arena isn’t a sure thing.
“We haven’t even been able to talk to the city about what that deal would look like, so it isn’t necessarily that if the City Hall goes, we’re there,” Welts said on the latest episode of the Intersections podcast with former Mayor Tom Leppert and entrepreneur Kyle Waldrep.
He said the team is “on the clock” as it works to land on a development site in time to design and build a new arena before their existing lease at the American Airlines Center ends in 2031. Welts had previously said the Mavs hoped to have a decision early this year, but that timeline got pushed by several months.
Meanwhile, city officials remain divided over whether to invest around $1 billion to restore City Hall or move out and mark the property for redevelopment. Staff is currently conducting more exploratory work on repair and relocation options to bring back to city council.
“The city manager’s office has been unbelievably supportive,” Welts said.
Speculation surrounding how supportive officials have been has animated a lot of the discussion over City Hall’s fate. A recent report by The Dallas Morning News, however, seemed to suggest there wasn’t much in the thousands of internal city emails obtained by the outlet tying the push to relocate from City Hall to the Mav’s hunt for a new arena site. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least.
“The emails show no coordinated planning, no financial modeling tied to a joint project, and no internal strategy connecting City Hall decisions to an arena deal,” DMN reported.
Emails suggest a couple of meetings between Welts and City Manager Kimberly Tolbert were in the works last year. No follow-up communications confirm whether any sitdown actually occurred. However, Mark Boekenheide, senior vice president of global real estate development at Las Vegas Sands Corp., was invited to one of them. Both the Mavericks and Las Vegas Sands have the same majority owner: Miriam Adelson and her family.
One of the planned meetings with Welts was scheduled for May, just a few months before Mayor Eric Johnson created the Finance Committee to “identify the most fiscally responsible course to address the mounting deferred maintenance and carrying costs of Dallas City Hall.”
In a statement to DMN, the Mavericks said they met with the city manager’s office to “evaluate opportunities and gather information” related to their search for a “long-term arena solution in Dallas.”
It’s not just a new arena that’s on the line, though. Home court would only be the anchor of a 50-acre entertainment district with a four-star hotel, auxiliary facilities, and the team’s corporate offices. He said Live Nation was interested in putting up its own venue in the district. And, of course, there would be retail and dining opportunities.
“If there was 50 acres available downtown, I think it’d be an amazing sight… Right now, there really isn’t,” Welts said.
The Mavericks do have at least one alternative site in the city limits: the former Valley View Center in North Dallas. The property was named on the team’s shortlist of preferred sites. But Welts suggested they would prefer putting roots down downtown.
“I think these things are incredibly successful in a dense, urban environment,” he said. “I think they add the most to any community they’re in if they’re in that kind of environment, and I think they can be a catalyst for a lot of other development.”
Downtown stakeholders and city boosters have argued that redeveloping 1500 Marilla St. — with or without the Mavericks — will jumpstart the central business district’s southern sector. Opponents of relocation, on the other hand, claim revitalization can be achieved without offloading City Hall and that the building could be restored for much less than the $1 billion estimate produced by staff and the consultants contracted by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation.
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“You can’t always get what you want”
Mick Jagger’s 1969 famous lyrics ” You can’t always get what you want” ring true more than ever with the latest news about the Mavs real intentions behind their new arena development plans. In a city where getting a simple building permit takes months to years, Mayor Johnson, City Manager Tolbert and Linda McMahon put everyone on “Red Alert” to produce new estimates for renovating/moving City Hall after many years of deferred maintenance over two holidays to be ready February 26. What started at $24 million for emergency repairs at the 2025 budget meeting, jumped to $95, then $329, then $600 million within that time until the “experts” at the EDC took control and the cost somehow shot to $1.14 Billion of Dallas taxpayers “Monopoly” money.
After all of the behind the scene deals and deception from the horseshoe, we find out today that Mavs CEO Rick Wells acknowledged that Dallas would need to take action if it wanted them in the CBD but locating there was not a sure thing. But wait, did you note that Wells is not building another 850,000sf arena on 19.13 acres like AACenter? His Las Vegas vision has the new arena as only the anchor of a 50-acre Mixed-use entertainment district with a four-star hotel, auxiliary facilities, corporate offices, Live Nation and retail and dining venues. So I’ve made it easy to see which Downtown sites would fit his 50-acre parameter to stop this madness: Dallas City Hall – 11.8 acres – No, Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center – 30 acres – Nada, Reunion Arena – 32.5 acres – No Way. Well Rick, as your consultant, I found the Mavs new home a few minutes up North at Valley View Center – it has 110 acres filled with a sea of concrete parking lots and “You’ll get what you need”. Plus renovating/not moving out of our free and clear 1500 Marilla will save taxpayers over $100,000,000.00+ for a 10-year recurring lease and a $6,000,000.00 Broker Commission each term. Looks like a safer bet to me than rolling the dice on our nickel.
Since when did custom built basketball arena become obsolete in 30 years without any thought or discussion about updating and renovating it. Have we even paid off the bonds for building it?
The Thought that giving up City Hall will miraculously revitalize downtown is a preposterous premise. These people running this City has failed miserably at providing basic service and safety which is why we are losing an employer and their 6,000 employees. (AT&T) Which is partially why the occupancy rate in all this big buildings is so low. Dallas County lost 2600 people while the rest of the metroplex is exploding in a people count. Most of the loss was the City of Dallas. Who wants to live and work in a City that refuses to provide safety to its tax payers and businesses. Was Prop U necessary YES Dallas is still refusing to comply with that Charter amendment. We have a Starting salary for Cops that is substandard (12th) when they are by law supposed to be 5th. We have a core City that is in decline because of a bunch of woke leaders that valued DEI over proper management. Shame on all of them!