Texas Rangers Caught in Pickle: Develop Ballpark Parking Lots or Move to Dallas?

"The city of Arlington and Texas Rangers are considering collaborating on a $200 million mixed-use development near Globe Life Park," reports Claire Z. Cardona. As currently proposed, the project "would include about 100,000 square feet of restaurant, retail and entertainment space near the Rangers’ stadium," and "a hotel with at least 300 rooms and 35,000 square feet of meeting and convention space."

According to Cardona, the project would require a public-private partnership: "the city would give the Rangers performance-based incentives including income from property, sales, mixed beverage and hotel occupancy tax for 30 years, according to agenda notes. It also would include hotel occupancy and sales tax income from the state for 10 years."

The article neglects to notice a steady stream of media attention devoted to the possibility that the Rangers would move their home ballpark somewhere more urban—like somewhere in the city limits of Dallas. Possible reasons for the team's departure: poor attendance and a lease set to expire in 2024, according to a September editorial by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Back to the development proposal, which would assume the team is staying put—Jeff Mosier followed up the announcement (and pretty renderings!) of the project with a brief history of failed development proposals for the land around the ballpark. The first plan failed in 1991, while a 2004 plan led the team's ownership at the time into bankruptcy.