Plans for a $1 billion redevelopment of Collin Creek Mall in Plano took another big step at a late-night city council meeting Monday.
The city council approved a development deal -- a framework of where the city will invest tax dollars -- between the city and the mall developer.
Centurion American Development Group bought most of the old mall with a vision for redeveloping the 99 acres with shops, restaurants, a hotel, houses and apartments.
"It was once the center of commerce in Collin County and the hope is we can revive that and make it a great place once again," Plano's special projects director Peter Braster said.
Braster said preliminary estimates have the city setting aside $109 million in future tax revenue towards public improvements for the project.
"In the next six years the developer will be building roads, water, sewer, street lights and sidewalks. Those will all be turned over to the city," Braster said.
The city would also give a $10 million grant and spend $50 million in drainage improvements, a project Braster said the city would have to take on even without the mall development deal.
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"It really will ensure the future sustainability for the city and the east side of Plano for the long-term," Braster said.
"We are really excited the Plano City Council approved the development plan for Collin Creek Mall and are looking forward to partnering with the city leadership to return vibrancy and economic viability to the property," said Mehrdad Moayedi,president and CEO of Centurion American Development Group in a statement to NBC 5.
Plano will hold public hearings on two public improvement districts and a tax increment reinvestment zone to help fund redevelopment.
The full agreement is in the council agenda.
"We need numbers like that to create the outcomes we want. I think it's proportionate to what you'd expect in a project of this size," said Jim Cooper, president of the Pitman Creek Estates homeowners association.
The neighborhood is just west of Collin Creek Mall. Cooper, who said he'd lived in Plano for 39 years, has hoped the dying mall would get a second chance.
"If it isn't restored by somebody to some useful purpose, there's all kinds of negative fantasies you could have about all the things that will happen, the people that it will attract, the problems it would attract," Cooper said.
"As opposed to having one of the nicest, most progressive malls in the area right in our backyard. It's a pretty easy comparison for those of us who are close," he explained.
The mall closes July 31 when the last store lease expires.
A spokesperson for the developer said more than 4,000 people have RSVP'd for a goodbye party at Collin Creek Mall Friday evening.
