GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Arlington Says Yes to $650M Stadium Plan

The grassroots opposition camp conceded the race when the spread reached 7%, putting the Dallas Cowboys in control of 53% in the unofficial count of the votes. Though the certified count can lag by a couple weeks, it's not likely to reverse yesterday's outcome.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we won," Mayor Robert Cluck told the jubilant crowd at the Wyndham Hotel in Arlington. "We all had a dream and that dream has become reality. … You've said loud, and clearly, that you want change."

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who stayed behind the scenes throughout the campaign, stepped up to the podium with the count clearly going his way. "From the get-go, it was about Arlington," he explains of his silence, "and how it can be the place its citizens want it to be. …This victory is not only for the Cowboys stadium…but certainly the City of Arlington."

With the controversy put to bed, city officials' next move will be to follow through on a game plan to add a half cent to the sales tax, 2% to the hotel occupancy tax, 5% to the vehicle-rental tax, up to 10% on the ticket tax and impose up to $3 for a stadium parking tax.

Though other sites are under consideration, the favored location abuts Ameriquest Field, home to the Texas Rangers, where its parent, Southwest Sports Realty controls 180 acres. The group, with the Dallas Cowboys riding shotgun, recently hired New York City-based Cooper, Robertson & Partners, an architectural and urban design firm, and Steiner + Associates of Columbus, a development and property management company, to game out a mixed-use plan for the land.

An estimated 60 acres would be needed for Jones' dream stadium, a retractable-roof facility with 75,000 seats. Foremost, it will provide a new synergy for Arlington's entertainment district, which includes Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor, and a new Interstate 30 attraction to go along with the Louis Toussand's Palace of Wax and Ripley's Believe It or Not, the 6,350-seat Nokia Theatre and Lone Star Park, which is still mopping up from its first Breeder's Cup race.

Arlington's appeal is a positioning practically equidistant to Dallas and Fort Worth, with a network of freeways linking a one-time blue-collar town to all parts of the metroplex. As a result, the city's demographics have changed significantly in recent years. According to the Fort Worth-based Buxton Co., 63.55% of the population are white-collar workers.

The Buxton research, compiled for GlobeSt.com, shows 217,972 residents live within a 10-minute drive of the proposed sports stronghold, with the head count jumping to 612,906 and nearly 1.2 million for 15- and 20-minute treks. In 2008 when the stadium is to be done, nearly 1.3 million will live within 20 minutes of the two major league fields.

The demographics report shows the average 2003 household income is $53,990 within 10 minutes of Ameriquest Field; $58,124 within 15 minutes; and $61,120 within 20 minutes. About one-fifth of the population across the board earns $50,000 to $74,999 annually. And the median age is 31, according to Buxton's calculations.

As it stands right now, some 20% to 25% of the homes are valued at $100,000 to $149,999. The median property value is $86,591 within 10 minutes of the baseball field; $91,961 within 15 minutes; and $92,537 within 20 minutes.

As taxes and population steadily rise, the long-range expectation is the second stadium will spark tax-generating development to financially fuel municipal coffers to help offset the city's capped $325-million cost for the stadium. Under the agreement, Arlington will get $2 million annually in rent from the Cowboys for the 30-year term on the lease. The deal includes a pair of 10-year extensions and an option to buy the stadium for $100 million with full reimbursement for 30 years of lease payments.