Title
Resolution - A Resolution of the City of Mansfield, Texas, Selecting Neltex Development Pursuant to Texas Local Government Code Ch. 271, and Authorizing the City Manager, or his Designee, to Negotiate an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement Between the City of Mansfield, Texas, and Neltex Development for New Public Facilities at the Lone Star 360 Development; and Providing an Effective Date
Requested Action
Consider Approval Selecting Neltex Development
Recommendation
Approve the Selection of Neltex Development Pursuant to Texas Local Government Code Ch. 271, and Authorizing the City Manager, or his Designee, to Negotiate an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement Between the City of Mansfield, Texas, and Neltex Development for New Public Facilities at the Lone Star 360 Development; and Providing an Effective Date.
Description/History
Since December 2021, staff has been working on a potential sports and entertainment development, also known as Harvest Point. As part of the process, staff has worked with Neltex Sports as a potential operator of the multi-sports venue to deliver USL Men's soccer, Professional Rugby, and concerts and events, among other potential offerings. As of last fall, 2022, City Council authorized an agreement between the City and Hunden Strategic Partners to study the market feasibility, economic impact, and financial requirements to deliver on the Harvest Point mixed-use development.
The results of the study illustrated sufficient demand to move forward in the process and as a result, staff issued a Request for Qualifications for infrastructure developers to propose on regarding the development of the public infrastructure. This included the stadium itself, potentially a conference center, and a performing arts center, as funding would allow.
Staff received two fully responsive proposals from Hunt and Neltex. Each group provided their similarly constructed projects and approach. While both proposals represent extremely qualified developers, the team that staff recommends moving forward with brings an ultimate advantage; as they are proposing to deliver a USL Championship level team to the stadium, and to operate the stadium a minimum of 150 days per year.
For that reason, staff recommends City Council approve an exclusive negotiating agreement with Neltex Development to proceed with the predevelopment process and to develop the funding model to bring the project to fruition.
It should be noted that this agreement does not guarantee that the City will move forward with the funding, or construction of any of the public infrastructure items listed above. Those factors will be determined at the end of the predevelopment phase and brought back to City Council for direction to proceed or not.
Justification
This agreement will move us one step closer to developing a multi-sports venue that is contemplated to be delivered in early 2026.
Funding Source
TIRZ #4
Prepared By
Jason Moore, Executive Director of Economic Development