Council unanimously backs Toyota Stadium hotel and convention center deal, clearing the way to chase state grants

Toyota Stadium's operators, the Hunt family, won a unanimous City Council vote Tuesday night on a Chapter 380 incentive deal, a step the city says lets the two sides go after state grants for a hotel, convention space, shops and a parking garage at the stadium site.

The city announced the vote in a news release posted after the meeting.

What would be built

The planned mixed-use work at the soccer venue, located north of Main Street and bounded by Dallas Parkway and Frisco Street, includes:

• a full-service hotel with 250 rooms
• a convention center of about 15,000 square feet
• roughly 30,000 square feet for retail and restaurants
• a parking garage several stories tall

The release says the garage is expected to help businesses in the nearby Rail District, and that the project as a whole should bring in more visitors.

Terms of the deal

For 10 years, the city will return to the project 50% of the hotel occupancy taxes it collects there, up to a total of $5 million. The city is also cutting by half the construction development fees on the stadium improvements.

The Hunt family will pay the consulting and legal costs of applying for and administering any state grants, and city staff will pursue the grants together with Hunt Sports Development, according to the release.

"FC Dallas and the Hunt family are terrific partners," Mayor Mark Hill said in the release. He described the deal as the kind of partnership that distinguishes the city.

Background

Toyota Stadium and Soccer Center opened in 2003 as a public-private partnership among the city, Frisco ISD and the Hunt family, and the complex included 17 soccer fields along with the stadium. Two years ago, the city and its economic and community development corporations pushed FC Dallas' lease out to 2057 and committed to paying for mixed-use upgrades at the stadium.

The release did not say when construction could begin or how much state grant money the partners will seek.

Sources

friscotexas.gov