Mid City Times

The Arlington City Council recently approved performance-based economic development incentives for a planned multimillion-dollar, multi-phase redevelopment of the Parks Malls at Arlington.

The Parks Mall, a top sales tax revenue generator for the City, opened in 1988 and features approximately 1.5 million square feet of retail space that draws visitors from across the region. Parks at Arlington, LLC, which owns a majority of the mall space, is planning significant renovations to stay relevant amidst changes to shopping habits and visitor expectations.

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ (DSG) lease on its 82,000-square-foot site at the Parks mall expires in January 2027. DSG first plans to convert the vacant 120,000-square-foot former Sears anchor location for a new retail concept, Dick’s House of Sport. Then, mall ownership would transform the current Dick’s Sporting Goods space to attract multiple new retail, restaurant, entertainment, and service tenants. These improvements are designed to draw even more shoppers and boost sales, providing the company the opportunity to undertake a master planning effort for a multi-phased redevelopment of the entire mall to ensure sustainability for years to come.

The Parks Mall, the ninth most visited of the 48 malls in Texas and the fourth-most visited out of 16 malls in the Metroplex, would become one of a few locations in the country to feature a Dick’s House of Sport. In addition to a full range of sporting equipment for sale, the Dick’s House of Sport would include indoor and outdoor sports fields and courts for visitors to use during community events hosted by the store year-round.

The mall’s last major redevelopment was in 2002 with the addition of Gaylan’s, which is now Dick’s Sporting Goods. Since 2018, the mall’s assessed value has decreased by 19.3%, or $48.7 million. The multi-phased redevelopment is expected to generate substantial property tax and sales tax revenue for Arlington.

As part of the performance agreement approved by the City Council, DSG would invest a minimum of $25 million on Phase 1a to convert the former Sears space to Dick’s House of Sport by 2026. The mall owner would then invest a minimum of $20 million in Phase 1b to convert the Dick’s Sporting Goods site into one or more tenant spaces by 2030.

If these and other performance goals are met, the City would provide grant payments over up to 15 years for both Phase 1a and Phase 1b. Grant payments for Phase 1a will be equivalent to 70% of the City’s portion of sales tax revenue generated by the new Dick’s House of Sports, not to exceed $500,000 annually during the agreement period, up to $5 million total. The grant payments for Phase 1b will be equivalent to 70% of the City’s portion of sales tax generated by tenants in the space, up to 20% of the actual capital investment, not to exceed $5 million total.

Arlington’s public participation in the transformative redevelopment of the Parks mall aligns with the City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Plan. These plans call to rejuvenate key economic centers into vibrant destinations, participate in and promote catalytic redevelopment projects that meet economic development priorities, identify and pursue opportunities for redevelopment and the re-use of aging and high vacancy commercial areas and create amenities and assets that will secure Arlington’s position as a major activity hub in the Metroplex.

Original source can be found here.