Construction on Texas Live!, a planned entertainment complex outside of Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers, has been delayed. Work on the project was to have begun this month, but it will now begin in the fall, setting up a partial opening in 2018.
In partnership with the City of Arlington, the Rangers tapped the Baltimore-based Cordish Companies to plan a sprawling entertainment complex on parking lot A of Globe Life Park. The development—which will serve both Globe Life Park and the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium—is expected to feature numerous bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues, as well as a 300-room hotel.
Original plans called for construction to begin on the dining and entertainment space this month, with the work on the hotel project beginning later. Now every component of the project will start simultaneously, with parts of the development slated to be in place in 2018. On its current schedule, the hotel will be ready for occupancy by the start of the Rangers’ 2019 season.
While this news is disappointing in the respect that it effectively delays the opening of Texas Live!, the project is still an ambitious vision. At a total cost of $200 million, Texas Live! will span 100,000 square feet.
The City of Arlington worked with the Rangers and Cordish to kick start the project late last year. At the time, it was believed that Arlington officials pushed the plan forward to solidify the city’s effort to keep the Rangers, whose lease is set to expire in 2023, though a completed payment of bonds could allow the team to leave in 2021. It was expected that Dallas officials may try to lure the Rangers into the city, but Arlington believes that the Texas Live! project could ultimately keep the Rangers in Arlington. More from the Star Telegram:
“It has been the vision of our community for several decades to get development out there by the ballpark and this is the beginning of development around our great anchors, Six Flags, Globe Life Park and AT&T Stadium,” [mayor Jeff] Williams said. “It is important for our citizens to realize that this is a real deal, that they have brought in a contractor and developer to build it and it’s going to happen.”
At the same time, the project shows the Rangers are committed to staying put, another city official said.
“The Rangers would not have made that kind of investment with the city if they didn’t have a strong interest in maintaining their presence in Arlington,” Arlington City Councilman Jimmy Bennett said. He added that while Texas Live! is not an ironclad guarantee the Rangers will stay, it demonstrates how they feel about the city.
“It will have a life beyond the lease with the Rangers,” he said. “They are making this investment with that in mind. It is not a guarantee, but it is a commitment to the future.”
Arlington kicked in $50 million for the project, with the funding coming from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.