A Closer Look At Arlington's Big Development Plans
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ARLINGTON (CBS11) - Its builders are promising a $200-million project that will lure tourism money into all of North Texas.
The developer, The Cordish Companies, joined representatives from the City of Arlington and Texas Rangers to show off new renderings for an entertainment plaza and hotel planned for construction right next to Globe Life Park.
"I think we here in Arlington and in North Texas need to be dreaming about how big a tourist attraction North Texas can be as we add venues like we are going to right here," said Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams.
Arlington projects it will generate $100 million a year and add 1,800 jobs for its economy and spur new tourist growth in north Texas.
The sprawling entertainment phase, called Texas Live! will have one of America's largest sports bars similar to designs built in St. Louis and Kansas City. A new 300-room hotel and convention space will be built onto Texas Live! as the second phase.
"Oh wow!" exclaimed Bodacious Bar-B-Q owner Fran Ruegsegger when she saw a photo of one of the renderings. "That's pretty impressive."
She's owned the restaurant just south of the ballpark for 25 years. She's noticed the more the entertainment district grows the more diverse her customer becomes.
"It isn't just like people from Arlington or Dallas-Fort Worth," she said. "We get people in all of them all of the world.
Ruegsegger believes as the new development expands the number of international tourists here, she'll sell more of her homegrown cooking.
"I'd like to spread the Texas brand around," she said. "Because people have an image of a what Texas is and that's not what Texas is. We want them to experience the real Texas, you know?"
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