A 15,000-seat cricket stadium planned for Allen, Texas could be the first of 8 U.S. venues designed to help a Philadelphia developer translate his love of the sport into stateside zeal.
The newly-formed CricRealty Company, Dallas this week announced Allen as the first of the proposed sites for professional cricket stadiums.
The Allen stadium would be part of a more than 60-acre, $500 million mixed-use development and would include as a passive investor, Donnie Nelson, general manager of the Dallas Mavericks.
The project also includes McKinney-based Thakkar Developers,a mixed-use developer.
Plans for the nationwide rollout are still coming together, said Jignesh "Jay" Pandya, chairman of The CricRealty Company and of Pennsylvania-based Global Sports Ventures.
But talks with Allen bore fruit early on.
"We've worked in a lot of different cities but the city of Allen has embraced us with open arms," said Pandya, adding that the project is a few months away from getting all of the necessary municipal permits.
"The process, and how they have dealt with it and ... worked with us, it's quite wonderful, it's just really great."
He said the project has received incentives from the city but did not have details.
Based on talks that are ongoing, the project could receive an infrastructure grant from the Allen Community Development Corporation and funding under the state's chapter 380 law. The portion of theTexas' local government code allows cities to offer incentives to promote economic development, such as commercial and retail projects.
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The project has not received state incentives "yet, but we are very hopeful that the state will embrace us and help as well," Pandya said.
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As yet there is no specific team that will use the stadium as it's home base but Pandya said: "we are very hopeful that there'll be a lot of international cricket teams which are going to be playing here, as well as a lot of local leagues."
He said the facility will be used as a training ground to help local athletes "get to the next level."
Noting that cricket is the second most-watched sport behind only soccer, Pandya said he sees the development as a plus for the region.
"When you have international cricket games or matches you bring international guests from all around the world to the city of Allen," he said. "So it helps from an economic development standpoint throughout, it helps the whole area. You know what I mean?"
The initial phase of the project involves a 35-acre tract that will house an International Cricket Council certified cricket ground, training facilities and clubhouse. That phase is estimated to cost about $125 million.
A 25-acre parcel is slated to include offices, residences, hotels and commercial, entertainment centers.
Pandya grew up in India where "cricket is a religion." He's hoping to spread the gospel of the centuries-old sport throughout the U.S.
"We Americans, we love sport," he said, estimating that there are 20 million cricket fans in the United States. "We embrace every sport."
That's especially true in North Texas, which also has a growing Indian-American population.
"This (is) a perfect location for professional cricket," he said.
Pandya and his team have been working with JLL since 2016 to identify sites for possible stadiums. CricRealty is looking to develop similar stadiums in Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Washington DC, New Jersey, New York and California.
The group is looking to position itself as the key player in developing Cricket infrastructure in the United States.
"Our vision is to identify strategic locations to build such complexes and ... provide high-end, easy access venues across the country to facilitate the game," Steven Maksin, of Moonbeam Capital, said in a statement. Maskin is a member of The CricRealty Company.
Sam Thakkar is CEO of the Perfect Group of Business, which includes Thakkar Developers. He sees an "unmet need in North Texas for a stadium designed for global sports such as cricket."
In addition to professional cricket, the stadium also can be used to host rugby, lacrosse and soccer.
Construction on the stadium site is expected to begin in 2019, with the first phase, including the stadium, expected to be completed in 2021.
