ARLINGTON, Texas — Editor's note: This story was originally published in the Dallas Business Journal here.
Mark Cuban’s sale of his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the family behind a casino corporation pushes a long-floated idea of his to the forefront.
The Mavericks owner has pitched the idea of a partnership with casino magnate Miriam Adelson and her family's Las Vegas Sands Corp. to build a destination casino and resort in the city of Dallas centered around a new arena for the NBA team, if gambling is legalized in Texas.
"Texas is such an amazing state that we need to be a destination," Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. "And this is the way to do it."
Who else sees potential in such a concept? Look no farther than David Cordish, chairman and CEO of Cordish Cos., the Baltimore-based developer behind the popular Texas Live entertainment venue in Arlington, next to the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field.
"The idea of combining entertainment and mixed use around a casino is absolutely the winning formula," Cordish said in an email when asked about Cuban's proposed development.
Cordish said he did not have enough information to comment on the specifics of Cuban's plans in Dallas, but noted that he has had success with similar concepts across the nation.
He said his company has used this formula before when it developed two Hard Rock casinos with hotels in Florida, which he called two of the most successful casinos in America. His company also developed casino/entertainment complexes in Maryland, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and he said those created "spectacular and transformative" results in those areas.
It remains unclear where exactly Cuban would build such a project in Dallas. Dallas City Council Member Zarin Gracey told NBC 5 that it should be next to the future redevelopment of the Dallas Convention Center, a nearly $3 billion project in its own right.
"There’s no reason why we can’t build a huge resort destination in the city proper of Dallas," Cuban told the Morning News. "There’s plenty of places to do it."
