Demolition of former Valley View Mall in Dallas begins after latest fire
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — After two firefighters were injured responding to another fire at the former Valley View Mall in Dallas, what's left of the site is now being demolished.
Crews started tearing down the remaining structure on Friday.
The Valley View Mall closed in 2015 and most of it had already been demolished.
"There were great hopes for what would be developed there, and frankly nothing has emerged," said Dallas City Council Member Jaynie Schultz. "It's essential that the remaining mall come down, for the safety of the public, for the safety of the people."
The last tenant on the property, the AMC Theater, shut down in early 2021. Since then, Dallas Fire-Rescue has responded to multiple fires at what's left of the abandoned building.
"This demolition is long overdue for our community," said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, in a statement. "As we have seen, the former mall structure was a blight and a hazard for our public safety personnel."
The project has faced delay after delay in a long fight between the city and property owners.
The developer, Beck Ventures, contends things could have happened sooner if the city had done its part to put in an updated sewer line essential to redevelopment.
"We want there to be a world class project there," said Scott Beck, CEO of Beck Ventures. "We want there to be something we're proud of there, and that's why we've been holding onto the property for the past 10 years, even though it's been as difficult as it is."
Beck said the work that began on Friday was right on schedule.
"From a process perspective, this project started 10 months ago, so nothing was sped up in terms of anything that's happened," he said.
It will take crews several months to tear down the 300,000 square foot building and haul the material off site.
"The vision that Beck Ventures has for the Dallas Midtown project has not changed," Beck said.
Beck's proposed Dallas Midtown at the Valley View site is about a third of the area of North Dallas the city wants to redevelop into the new Dallas International District.
The $4 billion project is expected to be home to 25,000 people with homes, offices, hotels, parks and a new DISD STEAM academy.
"So we are moving forward with all of this, and we're excited this will then be cleared so it won't be the distraction that it's been for so many potentially interested developers," Schultz said.
There's no set timeline on when new construction might begin.
Dallas Fire-Rescue told CBS News Texas the department is "thankful to see that the process is moving forward so we don't have to respond to fires in the vacant structure that unnecessarily places the lives of our men and women at risk."
Both of the firefighters who were injured have been released from the hospital.
