Mansfield will finally get a dedicated sporting goods store at the Shops at Broad as the city confirmed new tenants for the mixed-use project.
Academy Sports & Outdoors and Plano-based At Home are seeking permits to open at the Shops at Broad, located at the northeast corner of East Broad Street and U.S. 287.
They will join Flix Brewhouse, an eight-screen movie theater that features an in-house brewery, reclining seats and dine-in service.
The first phase is expected to open in the third or fourth quarter of 2018.
Coffee giant Starbucks has also contacted the city for a signage request.
The developers, Geyer Morris, have stayed mum on what other retailers and restaurants might be coming to the 80-acre project.
A promotional document from CBRE, who is handling leasing for the Shops, shows Belk, TJ Maxx, Mattress Firm, Tuesday Morning and Sprint also joining the retail lineup. Potential restaurants include Saltgrass Steak House, Red Robin, Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Corner Bakery.
None of those tenants have been confirmed and there are several other tenant spaces and pad sites still available.
It also shows a Hyatt Place hotel along the northbound U.S. 287 frontage road. The hotel will be built on land the city swapped to the developer in order to relocate the StarCenter ice rink to the center of the project. As part of the deal, Geyer Morris contributed $2 million to fill in the funding gap so the city could build the dual ice rink.
Casey Lewis, Mansfield resident who has been critical of the project, said the developer promised to bring high-end retailers like an Apple store, Sephora, Anthropologie and Jos A bank, all stores that are in Southlake Town Square.
"Academy is a great fit for Mansfield and I'm excited we're getting them in town," Lewis said. "However, they don't fit in line with the vision the developer sold the City Council. At Home is a discount furnishings store and nowhere near the caliber of stores this developer promised when we allowed zoning changes and land swap deals to allow another apartment complex in town."
Now that it's a done deal, Lewis said he hopes the project is successful for the overall good of the city. He said he would like to see more experiential tenants like Flix Brewhouse than big box retailers.
The 82,500-square-foot StarCenter is under construction now on city-owned land in the heart of the Shops at Broad and is scheduled to open in September 2018, a year later than originally planned.
The city is building the facility and will lease it to the Dallas Stars Entertainment, who will run hockey leagues, figure skating, open skating and other activities on the two ice rinks.
Part of the delay had to do with installing a more high-tech and environmentally friendly chiller system for the ice rink and the addition of a community space, forcing the overall cost of the facility up another $3.6 million.
The sudden increase in cost angered many residents who were already opposed to public funding for the facility. The Fieldhouse USA facility, which hosts basketball and volleyball games and tournaments, is already open on the far north end of the Shops at Broad.
Plans for 300 apartments add to the controversy for the Shops at Broad as many Mansfield residents vehemently oppose additional multi-family, especially next to established homes that sit on large lots.
The Shops at Broad also provides an extension of the Walnut Creek Linear Trail from James McKnight Park to East Broad Street.
Eventually, that trail will extend east along East Broad Street to Matlock Road, where it will connect to the Oliver Nature Park and continue on to Joe Pool Lake.