Mayor, city manager give update on city projects

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Residents gathered Friday to hear the State of the City from Mayor Michael Evans and City Manager Joe Smolinski.

The city held two sessions, in the morning and evening, at The Grand View venue to inform the residents about plans for a new city hall, professional sports stadium, an entertainment complex, multiple multi-use complexes and a rail line.

“Whether we like it or not, growth is coming,” Smolinski said. “We are no long on the southern bubble of DFW. We are part of DFW.”

The city currently has 82,250 residents, according to city statistics, which will expand to 100,000 by 2027 and 150,000 by 2040, he said. Mansfield has 30,000 rooftops with the cost of a new home averaging $611,129, they said. Sales tax in 2023 topped $19.5 million.

The mayor and city manager announced several new ventures that are coming to the city, including a professional sports stadium that they “are not able to talk about teams” or what kind of sport, the pair said.

They were excited to announce the plans for a new city hall and town square on Heritage Parkway and U.S. 287. The city traded the current city hall at 1200 E. Broad St. and the land behind the facility for the Mansfield ISD’s property at 605 E. Broad St. and the shopping center at 703 E. Broad St.

“The school administration is going to city hall, which means we’re homeless in three years,” Smolinski said.

The new city hall and town square will have a mile-long canal system with a business complex, hotels, retail and a conference center, all built along a new Mansfield Riverwalk.

The North Central Texas Council of Government wants to keep Mansfield connected. The NCTCOG has plans for one or two stops in Mansfield on a rail line from Midlothian to Fort Worth by 2045.

Several new multi-use complexes with apartments, condos and townhouses are also planned, they said.

“Mansfield residents want options,” Smolinski said. “They want townhomes, they want smaller homes, they want duplexes.”

Downtown will be getting a new look soon with the Water District, a multi-use complex with apartments, retail, restaurants and a parking garage at the southwest corner of Broad and Main streets, while across the street will be 42 townhomes for sale on the east side of South Main Street. Another development is planned at Smith and Elm streets with retail and offices.

Other projects the city is looking forward to include High Five Entertainment with bowling, laser tag, axe throwing and a concert venue; a Courtyard by Marriott at U.S. 287 and Heritage Parkway that will include the hotel, retail and offices; Admiral Legacy, a 140,000-square-foot complex of corporate offices, restaurants and retail; and Movie Magic Super Studios, that will have 1 million square feet of studios, two hotels, townhomes and retail.

To keep everything moving, the city has added a new full-time team to the street department and upped the street budget by 17 percent from 2023 to 2024.

The city took over Big League Dreams after the sports group, which was managing the ballpark, missed a quarterly payment. The eight ballparks, indoor soccer pavilion, two restaurants, batting cages, playground and pro shop are owned by the Mansfield Park Facilities Development Corp. The complex at 500 Heritage Parkway South has been renamed the Mansfield Sports Park. The city is still assessing the condition of the park before reopening it.

The Shops at Broad at the corner of U.S. 287 and East Broad Street is still adding new businesses, like Portillo’s, Chuy’s Tex Mex and BoomerJack’s Grill, Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba's Italian Grill.

And the long-awaited H-E-B grocery is set to open in late spring or early summer, Evans said.

“The State of the City is strong,” Evans announced.

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