Margaret Mitchell, the Author of Gone With The Wind said “Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for it’s the only thing in the world that lasts. It’s the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for..”  Mitchell was right which is why for anyone who resides here or immigrates here, it is considered the American Dream to own just a slice of the pie.

Now imagine it is 1987, your name is Dan Lansing and you are living on a farmstead that your grandfather and his descendants owned since 1906. You spent the day on the tractor like many other days and now you are relaxing when you hear a knock at the door of your farmhouse.  Is your first instinct to think this knock could change my life forever?  Probably not, but for Joe Lansing, the knock would change his life forever.  Standing before him was a woman who worked for the local film office, and she had been deployed to drive the dusty gravel roads in search of just the right eye candy when she spotted what she later would tell the film studios was the “holy grail!”  A white clapboard, two-story farmhouse nestled against a hillside with the iconic red barn nearby and plenty of cornfields.  Sue Riedel introduced herself and said she was a scout for Universal Studios and that they might want to come here and film a movie, would that be OK?   Lansing responded, “Are you crazy?”  That day changed everything for the Lansing farm located at 28995 Lansing Road. 

What would happen next is the Field of Dreams. Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore as he walks through the corn fields doing a regular inspection.  “If you build it, he will come.”  Kinsella plows his field and builds a ballpark which will later save his family farm.  The final iconic shot of the film showed the ghost players emerging from the corn fields for a ballgame.  Dan and his wife Becky later sold the land for a rumored $5.4 million to Ballpark Heaven who wanted to turn it into a $74 million baseball and softball complex to draw tournaments from all over the country.  Even today, the mythical Field of Dreams has spawned thousands of people to visit Dyersville, Iowa every year and it is one of the top 10 attractions in the state.  The movie Field of Dreams changed life for the Lansing family forever and residents of Frisco would be surprised to learn that Dan and Becky lived in Frisco for a period after selling the Iowa property. 

Land in Texas is undergoing a fundamental change, one that has implications for rural economics, food security, and the conservation of water and other natural resources. Texas Land Trends reports that from 1997 to 2017 the Texas population increased by 48% which means we continue to see land loss as urban development takes over.  The land value of a piece of property includes both the value of the land itself as well as any improvements that have been made to it.  So many different factors can affect land value such as an increase in demand that exceeds the supply of land, if a movie is filmed on it, oil can be found under the soil, or because of nearby developments.  

Remember in our blog, Frisco, Are You Ready For Some Football we said to make a mental note of a land deal that took place in February 2019.   Remember the timeline, The Star was approved in August 2013, and the Dallas Cowboys moved into the new corporate headquarters and training facility with a 12,000-seat stadium in August 2016.  The following year in May of 2017, the city council approved 12 Cowboys Way, The Stars luxury high-rise community.  The Entertainment District at The Star held its grand opening weekend-long event in March 2018.   

In February 2019, the council had two agenda items before them relating to Jerry Jones and his Blue Star companies which included,

1. Consider and act upon a contract of sale by and between Blue Star Land Phase III, LLC and the City of Frisco for the purchase of a 2.4933-acre tract of land.
2. Consider and act upon a Chapter 380 Agreement by and between Blue Star Land Phase III, LLC and the City of Frisco related to the purchase of a 2.4933-acre tract of land.

First question, where is the 2.4933-acre tract of land?  If you drive up The Star Boulevard you look directly at the Tostitos Championship Plaza which replicates a football field and directly behind it you see The Ford Center a 12,000-seat stadium.  To the left of The Ford Center are the two practice fields that sit directly behind the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters.  Directly behind those fields is a 2.4933-acre tract of land (along Hall of Fame Lane) that the city owns and is allowing the Cowboys to use as a player’s parking lot only.   

Second question, what is the benefit to taxpayers?  According to Ron Patterson, President of the Frisco Economic Development Corp., the estimated value of the proposed future office building will be approximately $190,000,000. Blue Star Land committed to having the project done and ready to move into as early as 2021.  

Doesn’t sound like a bad deal right? Well, you have not heard the kicker yet which will talk about in our next blog after the Halftime Show. Stay Tuned!