Mavericks begin Valley View zoning for Far North Dallas arena district

The Dallas Mavericks turned a site announcement into a formal land-use filing this week, confirming they have started the zoning change process for a new arena and entertainment district at the former Valley View Mall site in Far North Dallas.

The step does not put shovels in the ground, but it does lock the franchise onto a public timeline that leads out of downtown when the American Airlines Center lease window closes.

In a statement released Tuesday, the team framed the filing as the next concrete move after selecting the Valley View location in June. "We are excited to announce the next step toward a new home in Dallas. Today, we have formally begun the zoning change process to pursue a new Dallas Mavericks arena and entertainment district at the former Valley View Mall site.

We look forward to working closely with the community as the process moves forward," the Mavericks said.

FOX 4 reported that the franchise holds option agreements covering about 104 acres near Preston Road and the LBJ Freeway (I-635). The Dallas Business Journal separately described a rezoning filing covering more than 100 acres at the same former mall site.

The acreage figures are not identical in the two accounts - FOX 4 cited 104 acres under option agreements; the Business Journal described a rezoning of more than 100 acres - but both place the project on the Valley View footprint the team identified earlier this summer.

Leaving downtown on a fixed runway

The Mavericks have played in downtown Dallas since the franchise launched in 1981 and have called the American Airlines Center home since 2001. Team officials say they are targeting a move into the new Far North Dallas arena by 2031, when the AAC lease ends.

That runway matters as much as the zoning paperwork: it gives the club, the city, and neighboring landowners a multi-year planning window rather than an abrupt exit.

Context from August sharpens the shared-tenant picture. On Aug. 17, the Mavericks and Dallas Stars resolved a legal dispute tied to the AAC and issued a joint statement affirming the downtown building as home through at least the 2030-31 season. The clubs have been co-tenants since 1993, first at Reunion Arena and then at the AAC.

While the Mavericks pursue Valley View, the Stars are planning a hockey-only arena at Willow Bend in Plano. Both franchises are pointing toward post-2031 departures from the shared downtown venue - parallel tracks that make this week's zoning start less a surprise than a milestone on a path already sketched in public.

Fan geography and what zoning actually unlocks

In April, the Mavericks polled season-ticket holders on preferred arena geography, offering downtown, North Dallas, and regional suburban options. Choosing Valley View and then filing for rezoning answers that survey with a Far North Dallas entertainment-district model rather than a second downtown rebuild. Zoning is the gate that converts optioned land into a project the city can review for uses, density, traffic, and district design.

Without it, the June site choice remains a land play; with it, the franchise begins the public process that will decide how an arena, related commercial space, and surrounding access fit on the old mall parcel.

City review of the zoning change will invite community input the team already pledged to engage. Parallel work on purchase options, financing, and district programming will have to keep pace if a 2031 opening remains realistic.

For now, the verified development is straightforward: the Mavericks have formally begun rezoning at Valley View, the AAC runway runs through at least 2030-31 alongside the Stars, and Far North Dallas is now the site under active land-use review for the franchise’s next arena.

Sources

FOX 4

bizjournals.com

The Dallas Morning News