The Dallas Wings, a Women's National Basketball Association team, received the green light by the Dallas city council to make way for the team's new $55 million practice facility.
The city identified undeveloped park land at West Oak Cliff’s Joey Georgusis Park at 1200 N. Cockrell Hill Road to house the Dallas Wings' office and practice facility, as well as practice soccer fields for the Dallas Trinity FC women's professional soccer team.
The vote makes good on promises made by the city last year in a 15-year agreement with the WNBA team to provide them a practice facility.
Mayor Eric Johnson, ahead of Wednesday's vote that ended 12-2, said the city will reward teams that "want to play in our city limits" and play "games in our town and not just wear the name," referencing teams that say they are in Dallas but are actually not playing in the city limits.
"For anybody who's listening, we are ready to make deals, we are ready to be aggressive, we are ready to compete for that business because we are not just going to continue to concede to our suburbs," Johnson added.
The 15-year deal with the Dallas Wings helped lure the namesake team to the city after playing for years at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, a Dallas-area suburb. In turn, Dallas offered the WNBA team about $19 million in economic incentives for moving their games to what has been known as Memorial Auditorium at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
The convention center is undergoing a $3.7 billion revamp, which includes the arena where the Wings are expected to eventually play. Until the convention center project is completed, the Wings will play in Arlington.
Plans for the practice facility includes two full-size practice courts, professional locker and wellness rooms, strength and conditioning areas, family and mother's rooms for working moms and community areas for visitors.
The new practice facility is expected to open ahead of the Dallas Wings' 2026 season. City officials estimate the project's cost at $55 million.