Dive Brief:
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Team and city officials announced Tuesday that the entertainment district planned for a 7-acre site next to the new Texas Rangers stadium in Arlington, TX, will cost $50 million more than originally estimated, bringing the total price tag to $250 million, the Dallas Morning News reports.
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Developers have doubled the size of the entertainment and retail portion of the project to 200,000 square feet, and they have accelerated the construction schedule for the 300-room hotel and 35,000-square-foot convention center also planned for the site so that all three components will be complete in time for the 2018 Major League Baseball season.
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City officials told ABC affiliate KVUE that the entertainment district will be "an economic engine," generating thousands of temporary and permanent jobs. The Rangers and Baltimore-based developer The Cordish Companies will share the cost of Texas Live!, but the city of Arlington will kick in $50 million for infrastructure improvements.
Dive Insight:
The Texas Live! development was announced in May at the same time the Rangers made public their decision to build a $1 billion, air-conditioned ballpark with a retractable roof in Arlington, rather than relocate. The deal with Arlington will see the team stay in their new venue until at least 2054, with the city poised to contribute $500 million in construction financing. A November vote is expected to finalize the city's contribution, as well as OK a half-cent sales tax scheme to pay for it. The city said it will give Cordish refunds of Texas Live! hotel occupancy, property, sales and mixed beverage taxes for 30 years in return for its position in the project, and the state has agreed to give back hotel occupancy and sales taxes to Cordish for 10 years.
The team and developers also shared more details about what the Texas Live! development will encompass: a 30,000-square-foot, two-story sports bar called the Rangers Republic; a 35,000-square foot restaurant and entertainment stop with a 100-foot video screen, a performance stage and a 10,000-square-foot beer garden; and an outdoor pavilion that is expected to host as many as 250 concerts, art shows and other events annually.
Increasingly, developers are surrounding sports venues with mixed-use entertainment spaces. Architect Michael Breclaw, with Chicago-based FitzGerald Associates Architects, told Construction Dive in June that these developments are a way for teams to take advantage of a "built-in customer base" and give fans a reason to come early and stick around after the game, all the while spending money.
