Dallas Midtown, the Valley View redo, now one vote away from $36 million in TIF money, demo deadline

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One of many sneak peeks presented in recent years showing what Valley View Center might become when it’s razed to make way for Midtown

For now, at least, Valley View Center is still Valley View Center — or, at least, a shadow of the mall that opened in August 1973 at Preston Road and LBJ Freeway. A few chain retailers and a nice AMC multiplex remain among the art galleries, off-brand outlets, food-court eateries, electronics-repair kiosks and fight clubs that fill the once-thriving North Dallas hangout. And, on occasion, you will find a pop-up midway in the otherwise empty parking lot.

The mall, big-deal enough in 1975 to merit a visit from The Who’s Roger Daltrey, has become a sort of community center with a small-town vibe.

But as the Dallas City Council’s Economic Development Committee was reminded Monday, modern-day Valley View is but a place-holder killing time on what one city official called “one of the most valuable properties in the state.”

In time, and in phases and stages, the mall will come down and be replaced by Beck Ventures’ long-promised, almost 900,000-square-foot Dallas Midtown, a sprawling maze of new offices, retailers, apartments and hotels and a new 10-screen AMC theater built along new streets that will lead to a new park. Earlier this year, Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Urban cut a deal to develop 20 acres at the northeast corner of LBJ Freeway and Montfort Road.

After several promised start-by dates in recent years, developer Scott Beck now has a deadline to begin tearing down the old mall: Dec. 31. That New Year’s Eve demo-by date is tied to $36 million in public subsidies that will go toward everything from infrastructure improvements to environmental remediation to subsidizing the affordable-housing component.

That money will come from the Mall Area Redevelopment TIF, created in 2014 to revive both Valley View and the once-and-future Red Bird Mall. Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city’s Office of Economic Development, told the council committee Monday that the project, excluding land acquisition costs, will run around $290 million. The city’s contribution amounts to about 12 percent of the Midtown price tag. … [visit site to read more]

Reposted via Dallas City Hall News