Several Dallas City Council members want to prevent the Mavericks from moving to the Valley View Mall site in northern Dallas. But there's no clear plan to make it happen.
Dallas City Council Member Maxie Johnson held a press conference Thursday asking the Mavericks to stay in downtown. He was accompanied by fellow council members Lorie Blair and Zarin Gracey.
"To our Dallas Mavericks: You belong right here in the heart of downtown Dallas," Johnson said. "We support you, we love you, and we want you here."
The Mavericks relocation news came the same week the Dallas Stars announced their move to Plano. The same day of the Stars' announcement, Neiman Marcus announced plans to close its historic downtown store with plans to focus on its NorthPark Center location.
That news — along with AT&T relocating its headquarters to Plano — has sounded the alarm on the state of downtown Dallas. Those moves are also happening as the City Council nears decision time on whether to stay or move from its current City Hall building.
But Johnson said his push to keep the Mavericks in downtown was separate from that decision. He previously said keeping the team in downtown protects the tax base, supports small businesses, creates jobs, and drives economic development.
"The Dallas Mavericks has nothing to do with the decision that we're making concerning City Hall," Johnson said. "We are dealing with a can that has been kicked down the road for several years."
Texas Senator Royce West, state Rep. Venton Jones, and other southern Dallas community members were also present at Johnson's press conference.
Council Member Blair said that can had been kicked by previous councils.
"Well this council is going to pick it up," Blair said. "These members are going to pick that rusty, dirty can up and we're going to dispose of it the way it needs to be disposed of."
Despite the push to keep the Mavericks in downtown, council members are not aware of any incentive plan to make it happen. Johnson told KERA that City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert had not discussed a plan with the council as of Thursday.
KERA reached out but did not receive a response from Tolbert.
A spokesperson with the Dallas Mavericks gave no indication that the team would be dissuaded from Valley View.
"Now that we have the option agreement to purchase land in the Valley View/Midtown area, we’re doing our due diligence to work through the process," the spokesperson told KERA in an email.
The team entered into option agreements for the potential purchase of around 104 acres at the Valley View Mall site. The decision is based on the team's commitment to keeping the team in Dallas, according to a news release.
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