Mayor Updates BOMA on Arlington's Real Deals

"These are not dreams," the keynote speaker said. "They are becoming reality." The mayor's checklist included its bed-down deals like the $800-million Dallas Cowboys' stadium to the still-to-come Lakes of Bird's Fort, the largest undeveloped land mass inside the city line. The city's works-in-progress includes gas well drilling at the municipal airport, also in line for bricks-and-mortar expansion; courting multifamily developers for large redevelopments of aging complexes; interstate projects designed to keep traffic flowing through the Entertainment District; and Glorypark, a mixed-use plan for the land surrounding the football and baseball stadiums. And the wish list includes mass transit, possibly tying into rail lines to Dallas and Fort Worth, and a $15-million flood-control project, both hot-button issues with Arlington voters.

Cluck, speaking at Fort Worth's Petroleum Club in Carter-Burgess Plaza, said the city recently implemented a change to impact economic development, creating a one-stop shop from a handful of organizations. Aimed at developing initiatives to add jobs, Champion Arlington's goal is to unite movers and shakers from several chambers of commerce and the University of Texas at Arlington, the city's largest employer. "Fifty percent of our residents leave the city each day to go to work," Cluck said. "That's not good and that's our fault."