Arlington council OKs deal with Rangers for new stadium
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In bold statement to those who would steal the Texas Rangers, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a master agreement with the ballclub to build a $1 billion stadium with a retractable roof in time for the 2021 season.
The deal would keep the Rangers in Arlington through 2054.
It had overwhelming support from an audience of more than 150 at the meeting.
On Friday, city and Rangers’ leaders announced an agreement in which the city and the Rangers would split the cost 50-50, with the Rangers covering any overage.
The council’s next action is to be on Aug. 2 when it is expected to call an election for Nov. 8 asking voters’ permission to extend the current half-cent sales tax, 2 percent hotel-motel tax and 5 percent car rental tax — now paying off the remaining $175 million debt on the AT&T Stadium debt — and start using some of the revenue to begin paying the city’s share of the new Rangers stadium.
City officials said the new weather-resistant stadium is necessary to ensure the Rangers remain in Arlington, especially since Dallas leaders had been quietly courting the club.
“Now is our opportunity to decide if we want to just talk about it, or if we want to build it,” Mayor Jeff Williams said. “We were proactive, and the Rangers were good enough to not be entering into a competition. The Texas Rangers chose Arlington, Texas, once again.”
The Rangers’ new ownership, which moved in five years ago, had said it was fielding many complaints about the oppressive Texas summer heat and believed it was keeping hundreds of thousands of fans away from the ballpark, especially from afternoon games, each season.
The club ruled out retrofitting the existing stadium for a roof, calling it unfeasible.
Among Arlington’s negotiation advantages over Dallas was that Arlington could put the Rangers in a new stadium by 2021 – a full three years before the city’s current 30-year lease on Globe Life Park expires in 2024.
Rangers owner Ray Davis estimated at the Friday news conference that the new stadium would have 42,000 to 44,000 seats, compared with the roughly 48,000 seats at Globe Life Park. City officials at the meeting said the smaller footprint is necessary to make the retractable roof more cost-effective.
The master agreement mandates a minimum capacity of 38,000 seats.
Air conditioning will also reduce the need for private boxes, meaning that many will be replaced by regular seating, officials said.
The new stadium would be built on Parking Lots A and B, across Randol Mill Road from the existing stadium. The new ballpark, in preliminary designs, would be attached to the planned $200 million Texas Live!, a joint Arlington and Rangers mixed-use development is set to begin construction in the fall.
The project will feature 100,000 square feet shops, restaurants, bars and other retail businesses, 35,000 square feet of convention space and a 300-bed, high-rise luxury hotel, shops, restaurants and other businesses. A connecting concourse beyond the stadium outfield would allow Texas Live! patrons a view of the game.
The audience in the council chambers burst into applause and gave a standing ovation after the council voted.
Earlier about 15 people spoke in support of the project and another 40 turned in cards indicating their support. Ten people turned in cards citing their opposition, and six of those spoke to the council, several voicing concerns about the size of the city’s commitment, the quickness of the arrangements and the desire to see some of that funding used on streets and transportation.
Council members said the investment in a major economic development project will generate more revenue for those and other city services.
Warren Norred, an Arlington attorney who works with Citizens for a Better Arlington, disagreed.
“When we built the last Rangers stadium, we did not vote to give the Rangers an unending sales tax forever,” Norred said. “I suggest to you that this deal is not a good deal. It’s good for the Rangers. I suggest putting Arlington first, and let’s do it the right way.”
Zack Maxwell, publisher of the Arlington Voice, said the city should slow down.
“This is a 51-page master agreement. Did anyone read that master agreement?” Maxwell asked. “I have never seen a deal rushed out as fast as this was.”
City Manager Trey Yelverton said the residents will have town hall meetings and other opportunities to learn more about the stadium project before the election.
Former Mayor Richard Greene, a staunch supporter, said the issue boils down to one point: “Do you want to keep the Texas Rangers in Arlington?
Financial breakdown
The stadium complex would be owned by the city and leased to the Rangers. The lease would run through the new stadium’s opening season, projected for 2021, through 2054, with two five-year options.
The city’s share of the new stadium construction cost would be funded by venue taxes — the half-cent sales tax, a 2 percent hotel-occupancy tax and a 5 percent car rental tax, the same voter-approved revenue sources that are funding the city’s Cowboys stadium debt, and $2 million annually paid by the Rangers.
The election would also authorize the Rangers to use a parking tax and admission ticket tax to help pay for their share of the project. Those taxes were made part of the Cowboys stadium deal, which has generated about $119 million total from the inaugural season in 2009 through 2015, according to city financial officials.
The city has two options to pay off the AT&T Stadium debt and focus on the new stadium. The Rangers can pay it off and the city reimburse it over time — likely by 2028. Or the city can ease back on its accelerated payoff schedule on the AT&T debt, freeing up some of the revenue to use on the new project, officials said.
But should construction or other expenses come in less than projected, the agreements would require the Rangers to still meet their $500 million minimum commitment, Yelverton said Tuesday. Whatever amount the Rangers “saved” would have to be reinvested in the ballpark complex and potentially the Texas Live! development.
Williams and other council members have cheered the new ballpark’s anticipated revenue windfall for the city. An independent study commissioned by the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau projected an annual economic impact of $77.5 million for the city and $137.6 million for Tarrant County.
Over the life of the arrangement, through 2054, the impact would be $2.53 billion for the city and $4.49 billion for the county.
City officials say that those economic benefits to the city are being funded mostly, 52 percent, by visitors and tourists who spend money in Arlington.
“Most of these taxes are tourism or user-based,” Yelverton told the council and audience. “It’s not a question about new taxes; it’s not a question about increasing taxes. It’s about extending taxes.”
Even with its near-constant use of a half-cent sales tax for three major sports stadiums, Arlington has the lowest sales tax rate in the area. The state maximum is 8.25 cents on the dollar, of which cities keep up to 2 cents and send the rest to the state.
Arlington is the only city in the area that has not reached the state maximum. Arlington’s sits at 8 cents, with a quarter-cent tax raising $14 million annually for street maintenance.
Before an election, the state comptroller has to analyze the proposal to make sure the stadium project won’t have a significant negative effect on state revenues.
City officials are pleased that the Nov. 8 date is a presidential election, which typically draw half of registered voters to the polls, including a larger percentage of young voters than usually turn out for local elections. Often less than 5 percent of registered voters cast ballots in in local elections.
The half-cent sales tax also was the financing backbone of The Ballpark in Arlington, for which voters approved $135 million in 1991. The Rangers, who arrived in Arlington in 1971 as the former Washington Senators, moved into the ballpark, now Globe Life Park, for the 1994 season.
Strong revenues from the Rangers economic impact enabled the city to pay off the ballpark debt in 2001, a decade early.
In 2004, voters approved using a half-cent sales tax to fund $298 million for what is now AT&T Stadium.