Plano Mayor John Muns answers a question during a news conference following a meeting for council members to vote on whether to approve key measures in the Dallas Stars’ proposed new arena at the Shops at Willow Bend. The meeting was conducted at the Senator Florence Shapiro Council Chambers, 1520 K Avenue in Plano, on June 8, 2026.
Steve Hamm/The Dallas Morning News
Plano’s bid for the Dallas Stars to relocate their home ice to the suburb will cost the city more than $700 million, chipping in on a $3 billion arena and mixed-use district — a massive investment to bring the city its first major league sports team.
Plano City Council has accepted what Dallas Stars CEO Brad Alberts described as a marriage proposal this week, unanimously approving tax funding, a potential election for an additional venue tax, an incentive agreement and a non-binding letter of intent with the hockey team.
It’s a costly engagement, but the city, team and developers involved believe it’s a step toward a historic project for the city and region, one that will add economic energy to the site of the suburb’s ailing shopping mall, The Shops at Willow Bend.
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The approval allows the city and team to negotiate how to finance, develop, operate and maintain the arena and related infrastructure.
Related: Plano City Council approves $700M funding plan for Dallas Stars’ Willow Bend arena district
Council member Rick Horne said at a Plano City Council meeting the project is important to Plano’s trajectory, especially as neighboring cities struggle to flourish.
“We … want to be a vibrant, relevant city in the future,” Horne said. “We don’t want to be turned into one of the tired cities that you see surrounding us, including some of the larger cities.”
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Here’s a look at the $700 million in public funding, how Plano can afford the project and what the complex terms mean for the city and team.
An ‘underdeveloped’ property
The Plano project is much more than the projected $1 billion NHL arena itself. A $2 billion mixed-use district surrounding the stadium will serve as a “vibrant destination,” according to city documents, that will include retail, hotel space, dining, housing, public spaces and other venues.
Plano is using a tax increment refinancing zone, a TIRZ, to pay for its piece of the puck — $700 million through bonds backed by revenue from the TIRZ.
A TIRZ is a commonly used city funding tool — Plano has four other such active zones — historically used to fund public improvements in “blighted or underdeveloped areas” in need of reinvestment, according to the city.
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Based on a feasibility study, during the term of the TIRZ, new development will generate an estimated $1.6 billion from new property and sales tax revenue — none of which will go into the city’s coffers. That added increment will be reinvested into improving the district.
The Shops at Willow Bend never quite succeeded at becoming the retail powerhouse it was envisioned as when it opened in 2001.
“They’re not really getting tons of value out of that property,” said Ted Benavides, former Dallas City Manager and current professor of public and nonprofit management at the University of Texas at Dallas. “So they’re willing to risk a new kind of design.”
A TIRZ does not require voter approval but it does require a public hearing, which the city hosted Monday.
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Neighbors of the mall, many from residential areas in the affluent, western part of Plano, voiced concerns about the arena and feared traffic, noise and crime the project could bring. The City Council approved several measures supporting the project unanimously and vowed to take concerns and feedback into consideration throughout the development process.
How the TIRZ will work
After a public hearing process, a reinvestment zone can be created and tax revenue added from new development and redevelopment. Investment in the district is poured back into it by the city through projects like demolition, site preparation or infrastructure development.
A TIRZ will “freeze the value to the ground,” and any increase in property or sales tax revenue goes back to the developer investing in that area, Benavides said.
“By using the TIRZ, they don’t have to go find $700 million,” Benavides said. “They can build it over time as the property has more value … without having to go into your wallet and actually spending the money right off the bat.”
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The Neiman Marcus is seen with empty spots in the parking garage at The Shops at Willow Bend on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Plano.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
The TIRZ Plano approved this week is roughly 900 acres, almost ten times the size of the mall site itself. It incorporates only non-residential properties and stretches from Marsh Lane just above the George Bush Turnpike all the way up to Windhaven Parkway, snaking up the tollway.
These zones generally last 15-30 years, but the Willow Bend zone was approved to last 41 years. On June 8, the council appointed itself, all eight members, to the TIRZ’s initial board of directors.
The increment will be set at 100%, meaning all of the added property and sales tax revenue from development will be poured back into improving the district.
That $700 million will go to developing the arena — things like land, engineering and architecture costs. The team is on the hook for other costs outside the city’s contribution.
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Other taxing entities, like the school district and county, will still keep their tax revenues from the development in the zone. The city says its contribution to the arena project will not impact property tax rates.
Plano Mayor John Muns listens to a speaker during an open forum session as Plano City Council held a meeting for council members to vote on whether to approve key measures in the Dallas Stars’ proposed new arena at the Shops at Willow Bend. The meeting was conducted at the Senator Florence Shapiro Council Chambers, 1520 K Avenue in Plano, on June 8, 2026.
Steve Hamm/The Dallas Morning News
Risky business
Like any economic development deal, there’s risk, Benavides said.
The plan assumes property values will go up as investments are made and asks the Stars to attract enough visitors to games and other events to be profitable. It also will take time and requires a lot of development promises to be kept.
The team, developers and city are confident in the investment and the opportunity to generate revenue and emphasized the collaborative nature of the project.
“Something of this magnitude is going to take a lot from the city and from the community,” Plano city manager Mark Israelson said. “But what it would give back to the community is also very, very significant.”
Related: ‘The center of D-FW’: Why the Dallas Stars say they chose Plano for their new home
Alberts sees the Willow Bend project as an opportunity to create year-round revenue, not just revenue tied to TV sponsorships and ticket sales.
“This is in the best interest of the Dallas Stars,” Alberts said. “And the way the Metroplex is shaking out, we feel like this area is going to be really the center of the Metroplex.”
‘Dollars are getting more precious’
The $700 million contribution is more than Plano’s largest bond referendum in its history, a $650 million request approved by voters last year for a slate of seven propositions, from street improvements to a new police headquarters.
Plano’s contribution to the project is almost as much as the city’s annual budget, which was nearly $800 million in 2025.
The investment comes after Plano raised its property tax rate last year for the first time in 16 years, anticipating increased costs amid slowing growth.
The city has higher maintenance costs for roads and infrastructure as it ages from its historic boom in population and economic growth. Those pressures drove the city to ask voters for bond funding for city projects last year, raise property taxes and attempt putting membership in DART up to a vote this year to recoup sales tax from the public transit agency.
A rendering for the proposed new development for the planned Dallas Stars arena and entertainment complex.
Courtesy of Centennial
“Everybody’s trying to keep their tax base up, keep their income coming in, and trying to stay sustainable and livable,” Benavides said. “The dollars are getting more precious … Plano is not a youngster anymore.”
He said the city’s leaders are making rational moves to avoid raising taxes further by looking for ways to increase their tax base and free up funds. The city’s “fiscal house is in order,” he said, with a AAA bond rating from credit rating agencies, the highest possible score.
Some residents expressed concern about spending the money to bring an NHL franchise to the city.
“The city should only make the mall property a TIRZ,” resident Jennifer Groysman told the council. “The only reason the city wants to zone this is so it can build an arena for a corporation … This is nothing more than a corporate welfare scheme.”
Who gets what
The terms of the agreements could mean the Stars play home games in Plano for at least three decades. But the TIRZ will last even longer.
“Sports teams can and do move,” Israelson said. “We may need additional resources and tools to address what happens after 30 years … we’re prepared and thinking about this.”
The Stars would keep the revenue generated by operating the arena — including sponsorship and naming rights. But the city will own the arena itself and will review and give input on the development, design and construction of the project.
Related: How the Shops at Willow Bend went from struggling mall to potential $3 billion sports district
The team will also pay for operating and maintaining the arena, but the two parties plan to establish the terms for governing the long-term maintenance.
The Stars, under the letter of intent, would also agree to certain benefits for the Plano community, like youth sports and education initiatives, and arena could also host other events like Plano ISD graduation ceremonies.
Next, the city will finalize its financing plan, hire a transportation firm and hold open house meetings with residents. The team will begin designing the arena and district, develop a financing plan and work with the city on their agreement. The goal is to break ground on a new stadium in 2028 and be ready for the 2031-32 NHL season.
Other funds to the project
Plano’s end of the bargain doesn’t end at $700 million.
The council also approved a $15 million incentive agreement with Levin Holdings and Cawley Partners to help cover the cost of a city visitor’s center at the stadium and demolition at the mall.
This chunk came from the city’s economic development fund, which after allotting some to the developers, has more than $26 million left over. The city dipped into the same fund earlier this year to approve its largest incentive in its history to AT&T — $20 million incentive package and a lengthy tax rebate — to lure its headquarters from downtown Dallas.
Related: If Stars move to Plano, how will fans get to games? What to know about transit at Willow Bend
Plano officials are also looking to call a November election to ask voters to approve a venue tax, which can include taxes on short-term car rentals, hotel room bookings, event parking, event admissions and on major league team members that play in the arena — up to $5,000 per player per game is allowed by state law.
The taxes would pay for “planning, acquisition, establishment, development and construction of the arena” and related infrastructure, according to a statement from the city, and would be aimed at visitors who come to the arena.
“They’re really hoping that it’s not Plano-ites that are paying this bill,” Benavides said.
Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.