The Irving City Council will vote on a rezoning proposal Thursday that could clear the way for a mixed-use development with a destination resort — which could also include casino gaming, if the state of Texas legalizes gambling.
Irving residents have spoken out over the last few weeks — many in opposition to the development — including at this week’s planning and zoning commission hearing, during which the plan got preliminary approval.
KERA’s Megan Cardona has been following the story and sat with host Justin Martin to break down what's going on ahead of Thursday evening’s Irving City Council vote meeting.
How did we get to this point?
Plans for this development have been in the works as far back as 2022. That was the year the resort company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., entered into an agreement to buy the property on which Texas Stadium used to stand, along with land around that area.
It's about 1,000 acres around State Highway 183 and loop 12, and there's about 452 acres of buildable land on that site.
The land was officially bought in 2023. Now the Sands wants to rezone the property to accommodate a “high-density, mixed-use development” — a mix of corporate, retail and residential buildings, along with a potential athletic arena and a destination resort.
The corporation also wants to include a casino gaming component to the resort, which has received most of the backlash.
Casino gaming is illegal in Texas, right? So why are we talking about it?
Yes, it is! But there has been a push to legalize it. And over the last four years, Las Vegas Sands has actually been leading that lobbying effort to get casino gaming legalized in Texas.
But because it's illegal, there's been concern from community members and city officials that this plan puts the cart before the horse.
There's an assumption that casinos will be regulated with limited licenses and first m-class standards, Commissioner Daniel Denny said during Monday night's planning and zoning commission, but there’s too much uncertainty.
“As I understand it, there's no guarantee that that is going to be the legislation, if ever it’s passed,” he said.
But Las Vegas Sands says they need the casino gaming aspect included in the rezoning in order to move forward with the development plan.
You've mentioned Las Vegas Sands a couple of times now. What's their connection to North Texas?
The corporation finalized the purchase of the land a few months before Miriam Adelson acquired a controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks. Adelson is a primary Las Vegas Sands shareholder. Her name’s come up amid the backlash to the Luka Doncic trade (along with General Manager Nico Harrison.)
And there’s another interesting Dallas Mavericks connection to this: Patrick Dumont, who is the governor of the Dallas Mavericks, was recently named the next chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands.
Could this mean a potential move for the Mavericks?
That's one rumor, but no one has confirmed it. Mark Boekenheide, who is the senior vice president of global real estate development at Las Vegas Sands, told the planning and Zoning Commission Monday that an arena will be built if a destination resort is approved. But:
“I am not telling you that it is for an athletic sports team or not, so don't ask,” he said with a smile.
Meanwhile, the City of Dallas has made it clear they want to keep the Mavericks where they are.
What now?
After around seven hours of public comment during Monday night's planning and Zoning Commission meeting — most of which came from speakers opposed to getting the development approved with the casino gaming element included — it ultimately passed in a 5-4 vote. And now it'll be up to the city council to decide if the property can be rezoned to allow casino gaming in the future.
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
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