Work Begins On New Cowboys HQ In Frisco
FRISCO (CBSDFW.COM) - Excavation teams arrived early Monday morning in Frisco to start working on the new headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. The first step for crews is to move dirt and prepare the site for construction. The location will soon be home to the NFL team's practice facilities and business operations.
Mayor Maher Maso said that city council members gathered Saturday in a special meeting to approve the sale of $90 million in obligation bonds to fund the city's portion of the project. Once the ink dried on that financial arrangement, heavy equipment began rolling in to get the dirt flying.
The City of Frisco and the Frisco Independent School District each pledged $30 million to the project. Their portions will be repaid with revenue from the city's tax increment finance zone.
All five of the DFW area's major sporting teams -- Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars and FC Dallas -- will now have some sort of presence in Frisco.
Maso said that the various sports complexes now located in Frisco are a big draw for both tourists and North Texas locals. However, that worries families who live nearby. Residents fear road congestion and noise in their still-quiet community. City officials said that they have been planning for big growth like this for decades, and that it should not be cause for concern.
The new Cowboys headquarters is scheduled to be completed in time for the team's 2016 preseason.
Maso is already negotiating with at least two different hotel companies that want to be a part of the Cowboys headquarters building plan. "It's an ongoing project, so there's a lot of sectors interested in being here," he said on Monday. "Office buildings, hotels, residential -- those will kind of be parallel to construction of the multi-use facility, the outdoor practice field, the headquarters. So, you'll see announcements on a regular basis, over the next two years."
The goal, Maso said, is to turn the 91-acres of team facilities -- along with the nearly 180 acres that surround it -- into a destination that attracts crowds of football fans from near and far.
But will the project help the Cowboys reach another Super Bowl?
"We know they want to win," Maso said. "We know they have a winning atmosphere there, so I have no doubt they'll make lots of improvements. And, by the time they get out in Frisco, we should see a great team out here."
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