By Dom DiFurio
4:59 pm on November 1, 2021 EDT
Entrepreneur and former WNBA star Fran Harris has revealed plans for a $28. 5 million youth sports facility in Sunnyvale next year, with a place to eat and a retail space.
Harris has partnered with hotel industry veteran Eric Woerner on the ambitious task expected to be built 20 minutes east of downtown Dallas.
The 38-acre site will be near the intersection of Town East Boulevard and Belt Line Road in Sunnyvale, and will feature baseball, softball, soccer, soccer, volleyball and more courts and fields. live events area and a retail area where Woerner sees the possibility of selling branded products.
All progression will be aimed at families and athletes of all ages and types. The complex is also partnering with the Miracle League to provide a baseball box for youth living with intellectual and physical disabilities.
“It’s going to be like a country club or a beach hotel where other people can come and spend time all day,” Woerner said.
The Sunnyvale is ideal because it places the facility near the main transport arteries, adding the I-635 circuit, Woerner said.
“There are over 5,000 decided baseball groups in D-FW alone, so there are enough positions for other people to play,” Woerner said. “Right there, on the east side of the metroplex. . . we will be 20 to 30 minutes from almost everyone. “
Woerner is used to working with local sports organizations, adding the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers. Previously, he held positions at Landry’s Inc. , which operates Saltgrass Steakhouse, and 8020 Hospitality, which manages Dallas HG Restaurants Sply Co. , Hero and Standard Service. .
The Woerner and Harris Athletic Club Association is the company of the business and will operate with any long-term subsidiaries they may open.
Harris and Woerner are also in talks with a hotel organization that The Athletic Club can simply marry to load a branded boutique hotel on-site for families and organizations traveling to the hotel from out of town. sponsor of the entire complex, Harris said.
The City of Sunnyvale is providing about $2 million in tax incentives for the progression of the track club, according to Woerner.
Athletic Club has planned investments for the allocation and will lead the way at the time of the 2022 quarter if all goes according to plan, Woerner said, raising the possibility of disruptions to the chain of origin.
The Sunnyvale Sports Complex will be exclusive to the region, as Harris and Woerner need it to incorporate youth programming that is historically related to amenities that house basketball and baseball courts.
Some of the concepts originally intended for Forney’s progression will come to Sunnyvale, adding educational systems and technologies to make young athletes more informed about sports broadcasts and racing in esports. I want referees, referees and coaches.
“At some point, everyone is told they can no longer play the game they love,” Woerner said. “Some at 18, some at 12, some at 40. Being able to call the adjustment or even arbitrate it or arbitrate the adjustment. it somehow helps keep them connected to their lifelong hobby.
Harris, two decades after her professional career in the WNBA, has for years been the start of her next bankruptcy in the sport.
In early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit North Texas, Harris was in a position to begin the structure of a forney-like complex that he hoped would revitalize youth sports in the area. at the point of the city they have overdue plans for the $13 million complex, he said.
Forney’s assignment is on hold for now, but Harris said she was sure she was still building a facility there in the future. Harris still sees an untapped market in Dallas’ rare youth sports space.
“People have noticed that those cottages go unnoticed in Grapevine, Mansfield, Frisco. . . Dallas doesn’t have sports facilities [for young people], which is amazing to me,” Harris said.
Dom DiFurio. Dom is an editor covering consumer-focused business and business news in North Texas. His paintings have also been in the Washington Post, USA Today, ESPN Magazine and others, and he has been identified through the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, the editors-in-chief of the Texas Associated Press and Columbia University.