Officials say several locations would accommodate stadium

05/31/2001

By Kelly D. Patterson / Arlington Morning News

Talks between Arlington municipal and business leaders and the Dallas Cowboys have heated up in the last six months, several Arlington officials involved in the discussions have confirmed.

During talks, city leaders have identified 400 acres in far North Arlington as a possible site for a new 100,000-seat stadium for the team, four City Council members confirmed. The council members requested anonymity because they said the discussions deal with real estate and other sensitive issues.

One of the council members said he met with team owner Jerry Jones six months ago to discuss the possibility of moving the team to Arlington from Irving. Arlington Mayor Elzie Odom also said he met with one of Mr. Jones' real estate officials earlier this year.

"We had a discussion that included the Cowboys, but beyond that I'm not going to talk about it," Mr. Odom said Wednesday. "At this point, they haven't made a move."

State Rep. Toby Goodman, R-Arlington, also acknowledged talking to Mr. Jones several months ago about a possible relocation.

"It was an exploratory meeting," Mr. Goodman said Wednesday. "He was interested in Arlington, said it seemed like a nice place.

"It was just preliminary contact."

Arlington and Cowboys officials have discussed the possible move off and on for three years. In 1998, a Cowboys real estate official met with Mr. Odom, Arlington Chamber of Commerce President David Sampson and George Campbell, who was Arlington's city manager at the time.

Mr. Jones, who did not return calls to his office Wednesday, has said he wants his new stadium to have a retractable roof that would allow it to host the Super Bowl and NCAA events. It also could serve as a major venue for the 2012 Olympic Games, which North Texas officials hope to host.

"Right now we don't have any comment," Rich Dalrymple, the team's spokesman, said Wednesday.

The need for more revenue is another reason Mr. Jones has said he wants a new stadium.

For years, the Cowboys ranked as the richest team in the National Football League. In 1995, the team topped the league with revenue of $103.5 million and operating profit of $32 million, according to financial statements published this month by the Los Angeles Times.

The Cowboys' agreement with Irving requires the team to play at Texas Stadium through 2006. The team's lease runs through 2008, but Mr. Jones has said he can leave two years before that time by making payments to Irving, which owns the stadium.

Irving Mayor Joe Putnam said city officials have not met recently with Mr. Jones to discuss a plan to prevent the team from leaving. He said he is aware that Mr. Jones has talked about moving to Arlington.

"It would be nice if they would stay in Irving, but the city will survive either way," he said.

Bill Eastland, who campaigned against public financing for The Ballpark in Arlington in 1990, said Arlington is a pawn.

"We all know Jones wants to play every city off of every other city," he said. "First, we need to know if there's any substance to this. Right now, it's just rumor."

Dallas economist Peter Malin said businesses frequently shop around for the best deals before making a decision, pointing to the recent actions of Boeing Co.

Arlington officials also have history working against them. No North Texas city has successfully lured a professional sports team from its home since the Cowboys left Dallas in 1971.

Civic and business leaders failed to attract the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars to Arlington four years ago.

"Arlington is always the one put in play because they have Six Flags [Over Texas] and they're close to the airport," Mr. Malin said. "In negotiations, it's always better to have a suitor, and it's not just done in sports. It's that way with any major relocation."

The city has several sites to offer Mr. Jones, who wants to create a sports, retail and entertainment complex similar to Tom Hicks' vision for land surrounding The Ballpark, several council members said.

One location is near The Ballpark, but city officials believe a 2,000-acre site in North Arlington would better accommodate Mr. Jones' vision. The site, known as the Lakes of Arlington, was originally slated for a high-end housing addition.

Located off North State Highway 157, the area is strategically located between State Highway 183 to the north, State Highway 360 to the east and Interstate 30 to the south. It also is located near the Trinity Railway Express, which would make it easy to move fans in and out of the area, officials said.

The stadium would answer the needs of Arlington officials who are looking for a new entertainment venue that would turn the city into a year-round tourist destination.

But it takes four to five years to design, finance and build a new stadium, which means a deal would need to come before voters by about 2002.

Council member Joe Bruner said he believes that Mr. Jones will approach the city at some point this summer.

"I think they will come to us, and I've never wanted to hide the fact that we want them," he said. "He needs to do it very quickly. He needs to have it done by the end of June."

Mr. Dalrymple, the Cowboys spokesman, acknowledged Wednesday that Mr. Jones is aware of the urgency of striking a deal because any public financing probably will require voter approval to raise taxes.

After talks with Arlington became public in 1998, Mr. Jones said he would ask Irving to consider a $260 million plan to expand Texas Stadium. No changes to the stadium have taken place in that time.

Mr. Putnam, the Irving mayor, acknowledged Wednesday that Arlington has better leverage to strike a deal because of available sales tax money – a common method for cities to help finance professional sports venues.

Irving is at the state sales tax limit of 8.25 cents and cannot ask residents to approve a sales tax rate hike to fund a new stadium. There also is no land available for additional development surrounding the current stadium.

Arlington's sales tax rate will drop by a half-cent to 7.25 cents after it pays off $135 million in bonds that funded The Ballpark. The bonds are expected to be paid off in November.

Grapevine is the only other major city that has a full penny to finance deals.

Bruno Rumbelow, assistant city manager of Grapevine, said city leaders have no plans to request a sales tax hike in the next year, but declined to say whether they had met with Cowboys officials.

The most logical financing avenue for Irving, Mr. Putnam said, is to use the city's 2 percent hotel/motel tax. Even those funds are limited, he said.

"I don't think we'd be able to bring in enough money for what the Cowboys want to do," he said. "Arlington will be a tough competitor."

In Arlington, however, a stadium proposal may have to compete with proposals for mass transit, a Smithsonian-affiliated museum and road repairs.

Financing proposals for mass transit range from a quarter-cent sales tax increase to a half-cent increase. Museum supporters have discussed a quarter-cent sales tax increase. Funding road maintenance projects could also require a quarter-cent sales tax hike. Each initiative would require voter approval.

An Arlington business leader, who has been the point person for the city and the Cowboys, said he believes that the city can develop a financing proposal that would include the stadium, a scaled-down mass transit plan and a museum.

It could be sold to voters as an economic development package, he said.

Since there has been no public push by Mr. Jones to relocate the team to Arlington, council member Sheri Capehart said she does not consider it an option.

"Until someone in an official capacity comes to us, they aren't on my priority list," she said.

Staff writer Kelly D. Patterson can be reached at 817-695-0352 or kdpatterson