FRISCO – The City of Frisco, Texas and the Frisco Independent School District announced a partnership today with the Dallas Cowboys establishing Frisco as the future home of the Cowboys world corporate headquarters and training location. A multi-use special events and sports facility, to be developed on a footprint of approximately 20 acres, and the Cowboys world corporate headquarters on a footprint of approximately 5 acres, will be the centerpiece of additional mixed-use development on property surrounding the team’s new location.
“This is an exciting day in the history of the Dallas Cowboys,” said Jerry Jones, owner/general manager, Dallas Cowboys. “We are committed to cooperatively creating a development that will be a source of great pride for the City of Frisco, the FISD and the Dallas Cowboys. We know first-hand how world class facilities can create great interest, visibility and economic development. This is a community building partnership that will elevate and benefit all of the parties involved.”
The complex will be developed on a 91 acre tract in Frisco on Collin County land located on the northwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway.
In addition to becoming the home to the NFL team’s entire football operation, including administrative offices, coaches’ offices and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, the complex will include a multipurpose, 12,000 seat, indoor stadium and two outdoor fields that will provide facilities for use by the Cowboys, City of Frisco and Frisco ISD football and soccer games and other sports, athletic, academic, fine arts and entertainment events.
“We’re elated to partner the entire Dallas Cowboys organization and the Jones family,” said Mayor Maher Maso. “Having a partner of this caliber is a perfect fit for our community. We’re committed to creating unique, destinations that bring families together, promote business and tourism, attract major events and improve our overall quality of life while keeping our property taxes low. We welcome ‘America’s Team’ to one of the fastest growing cities in the country.”
The 25-year agreement calls for at least one week, per year, of the Cowboys official pre-season football training camp to be held in Frisco.
The innovative partnership represents a $115 million public investment by the City of Frisco and Frisco ISD. The agreement calls for the City of Frisco and its development corporations(each funded by a half cent of Frisco’s sales tax) to contribute $85 million (City of Frisco, $30 million; Frisco Economic Development Corporation, $30 million; and Frisco Community Development Corporation $25 million). The FISD contribution is $30 million. Frisco and the school district are using tax increment finance districts to generate funding. The Cowboys will be responsible for any cost overruns.
“This partnership opportunity came at the exact right time in the growth of our school district,” Dr. Jeremy Lyon, Superintendent of Schools, stated. “This will provide a world-class facility at the very moment we needed to plan for a stadium to address the district’s needs as our 7th and 8th high schools (Independence High and Reedy High) open in the next two years. We could in no way duplicate a stadium of this caliber on our own, spending the same amount for construction. This public-private partnership better meets the needs of all of our programs with an ultimate savings to the taxpayers. We will pay only direct event costs, but will not incur ongoing maintenance and operation costs, resulting in a savings of $250-300,000 annually.”
The development agreement also calls for the Cowboys to manage and operate the publically owned facility; employ at least 150 full-time employees at the Frisco facility; and pay Frisco a lease payment of at least $100,000 annually.
The Cowboys will share revenue resulting from facility sponsor naming rights and split parking fee revenues with Frisco.
The mixed use development will be built on approximately 66 acres remaining of the 91-acre tract. Planned uses for the development include approximately 1.2 million in corporate offices, 400,000 in retail and 51,000 in restaurants. A luxury hotel with approximately 480 rooms is also planned for the site.
The estimated economic impact over the next thirty years is $23.4 billion. Employment impact is estimated at 4,500 new jobs at full development, and tax revenues of $1.26 billion.
A timetable for breaking ground has not yet been established to allow for the planning and design of the development, although the fall of 2016 is projected as the timeframe for the Cowboys move to Frisco.
The Dallas Cowboys’ current headquarters are located in the Valley Ranch section of Irving, Texas, a site that has been the team’s training home since August of 1985.
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