HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-08 Euless Articles Wed. December 12, 2018, 3:20pm
New gastropub Thirsty Lion opens its doors in
Euless
Photo: Thirsty Lion/Yelp
A new gastropub, sports bar and traditional American spot has made its debut in the neighborhood.
Located at 1220 Chisholm Trl, Suite 100, the new addition is called Thirsty Lion Gastropub &
Grill. With eight locations and two more debuting in 2019, the spot offers a diverse selection of
brunch, lunch and dinner eats, according to its website.
On the menu, look for greens, sandwiches, burgers and brick-oven pizza. Check out the spicy fried
chicken sandwich or one of its specialties, like the Korean barbecue pork with kimchi rice. Wash
it down with one of its specially-crafted beers, ciders or cocktails. (See the full menu here.)
Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill has gotten off to a solid start thus far, with a 3.5-star rating out of
18 reviews on Yelp. Brian S., who was among the first Yelpers to review the new spot on Dec. 4,
wrote, "We had several different appetizers. They were all great. ... Very trendy with a pretty good
beer selection. ... Servers were very attentive."
Jennifer G. noted, "We had dinner here on a Friday night. The wait was shorter than expected and
the drinks were on point. We had the pork sliders, Brussels sprouts and carnita tacos. Everything
was delicious and the staff was super attentive."
Interested? Stop by to welcome the new business to the neighborhood. Thirsty Lion Gastropub &
Grill is open from 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday, 10 a.m.–
midnight on Saturday, and 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday.
D Magazine
DFW Airport, with Irving and Euless, would've granted incentives of $22.7 billion over 99 years had
Amazon chosen this spot.DFW International Airport
LOCAL NEWS Not a Typo: To Lure Amazon, DFW Airport Had
a Plan to Offer Nearly $23 Billion Over 99
Years
In the largest HQ2 offers made public, records show the airport was working with the cities of
Irving, Euless, and Grapevine to package massive incentives.
BY SHAWN SHINNEMAN PUBLISHED IN FRONTBURNER DECEMBER 13, 2018 11:28 AM
DFW International Airport submitted a pair of bids to Amazon for its second headquarters—
working in one case with the cities of Irving and Euless and in the other with Grapevine—that
would have each topped $20 billion in tax breaks over the next century.
At more than double the highest incentive offer revealed since Amazon made its choices last
month, the attempts set a new standard for the lengths cities were willing to go in an effort to snag
the $5 billion capital investment and 50,000 well-paid employees. The airport provided us its bid
documents in response to an open records request.
Under the respective deals, airport-controlled land would’ve been leased to Amazon over 99 years,
meaning the tax incentive would’ve spanned about two and a half times the longest tax abatement
period ever, according to Good Jobs First, which tracks subsidies. A Dell plant in Tennessee, the
previous leader, is about halfway through its 40-year abatement.
“Offering a 99-year incentive is madness,” says Nate Jensen, a professor of government at the
University of Texas in Austin who specializes in the area. Under one of the plans, officials
proposed that Amazon build HQ2 at Passport Park, a new business development on the south side
of the airport. The proposal would’ve put the headquarters within the city boundaries of Irving and
Euless, on about 250 acres of developable land. Amazon was to benefit from a tax incentive valued
at $22.7 billion within Passport Park through “entering into a 99-year ground lease and assigning
the improvement’s ownership interest to DFW Airport,” according to a pitch document compiled
by the airport. Arlington had additionally agreed to spend $50 million to connect the development
to the TRE Centreport Station, bringing the HQ to Dallas and Fort Worth via rail.
A package of $22.7 billion would’ve easily marked the priciest incentive deal in U.S. history. The
state of Washington put together an $8.7 billion package for Boeing in 2013.
A slide from the airport’s pitch with Irving and Euless.
The other plan was a site at the north end of the airport, located within Grapevine on about 700
acres of workable land. Incentives would’ve totaled $20.4 billion over the 99-year lease, according
to documents. Neither proposal included a clawback provision, whereby DFW would be able to
take back incentives if Amazon didn’t hit certain requirements.
DFW Airport has in recent years added industrial parks, car dealerships, and hotels to the property
it controls, which sits on a swath of land encompassing pieces of Grapevine, Coppell, Irving, and
Euless. Amazon itself has about 2.6 million square feet of e-commerce fulfillment centers at the
airport. When the bids were submitted, in October of last year, about 28 Prime Air flights were
leaving the airport each week. Developments located on airport grounds enter leases with the
airport, which does not have the authority to tax. But the airport has revenue-share agreements
with host municipalities, as well as the cities of Dallas and Forth Worth, which own the airport.
Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, says the structure of the airport’s Amazon
offers line up with a workaround used in some states where property tax abatements are banned.
In those instances, a county economic development authority owns the facility but leases it to a
company at a price equal to the bonds issued to finance the building. With the facility technically
under public control, the business doesn’t have to pay property taxes. (When the lease runs out,
LeRoy says, the building is usually sold to the company for a buck.)
“This is a variation on that theme, where you’ve got an airport authority (controlling) the land and
able to get an extremely low assessment rate on improvements, to effectively, greatly lower the
property tax value,” says LeRoy, who reviewed the documents.
He added that these sorts of extreme incentive deals have a way of harming residents of the cities
involved by sticking them with the tab for things like added traffic on highways, increased 911
calls, and the need for more schools and teachers. “In every city that was bidding on HQ2, this
whole issue of who’s going to pay for the induced growth is paramount,” says LeRoy. “If this
facility is not paying very much in property taxes, everybody else is getting stuck with that bill.”
Casey Norton, a spokesperson for the airport, which sent in the bid documents, says it was
ultimately the taxing entities involved who set the incentive totals. He didn’t provide specifics
about how officials landed on incentives in excess of $20 billion or how those numbers were
calculated. He also pushed back on the notion that residents would be disadvantaged by such a
deal, pointing to the airport’s independent utilities. “The taxing entities do not bear any of the
burden of infrastructure, police, fire, roads, water, utilities, any of that,” says Norton. “We pick up
all of that.”
For the airport, a 99-year lease is not unheard of, according to VP of Commercial Development
John Terrell. He says the entity has two active leases of that length, including one with a new
American Airlines facility. The city of Irving declined to comment, directing all questions to the
airport.
The airport’s proposed slot in Grapevine.
There’s no indication that this sort of plan would’ve been attractive to Amazon. In seeking
proposals, the retailer asked cities to take into account the difference between a dollar today and a
future dollar by introducing into their calculations a 6 percent discount rate. This was supposed to
help cities determine the present value of future funding. “Amazon would prefer incentives up
front that they can spend or invest in a way to make more money, as opposed to money in the
future,” says Jensen.
At a 6 percent discount rate, $1 billion in 10 years would’ve been worth just $558 million to
Amazon now—meaning CEO Jeff Bezos’ team would prefer $559 million today over receiving
$1 billion in 10 years. In Amazon’s eyes, and according to Jensen’s calculations, $3.1 million up
front would’ve been preferred to a $1 billion incentive that it would have to wait 99 years to
receive.
“The only reason to put incentives this far out is to get the number to get really big,” he says.
“Incentives out 50-plus years are pretty much worthless to a company’s decision today.” The
airport’s proposals signified a “present value” of $1.26 billion on the Irving and Euless deal and
$1.13 billion on the Grapevine deal.
LeRoy figures Amazon’s extensive team of subsidy experts saw right through the lofty figures
associated with these long-term plans. But there is one way the retailer might’ve found them
helpful—the gaudy numbers could’ve been flashed at officials in Virginia or New York to drive
up their price. “I’m curious to know as we see the correspondence from Virginia and New York
and maybe Nashville, too, to what extent or not was the size of this Dallas deal used as leverage
to cajole them to offer more money?” LeRoy says.
Incentive offers have trickled out in the weeks since November 13, when Amazon announced it
would split its second mothership in two, with locations in Crystal City, Virginia, and Long Island
City, New York, as well as a manufacturing facility in Nashville. Combined, it received incentives
valued at about $2.5 billion for those moves.
The city of Dallas packaged a deal worth $600 million for Amazon, which would’ve accompanied
another $500 million from the state. The area’s largest incentive package prior to the airport’s
disclosure was Arlington, which valued its deal at $921 million. Nationally, Montgomery County,
Maryland, raised eyebrows when it was announced that the package it put together to lure Amazon
was valued at $8.5 billion, including a $6.5 billion bundle approved by the state legislature.
We rounded up a handful of suburban deals in a post last week, which also discussed just how shy
some municipalities have been in revealing the information. Irving was one of the cities that
appealed our request up to the Texas Attorney General, as did the cities of Frisco and Plano. Those
requests await a decision from the AG, which has 45 days to respond. When a reporter here asked
for Plano’s incentives earlier this year, the city appealed and was told by the AG to give them up.
Instead, the city sued to keep the documents under wraps. That court case is ongoing.
Mayors of Ten North Texas Cities to Face Off
in Salvation Army Red Kettle Challenge
By Tim Ciesco
Published Dec 15, 2018 at 8:51 AM | Updated at 10:29 AM CST on Dec 15, 2018
The mayors of ten North Texas cities will face off Saturday in a friendly competition to
raise money for the Salvation Army. They'll each spend time bell ringing and manning
one of the charity's famous red kettles to see which city can collect the most money in
one day.
The cities participating in this year's challenge are Arlington, Bedford, Burleson,
Dalworthington Gardens, Euless, Hurst, Kennedale, Mansfield, North Richland Hills,
and Pantego. Mansfield has dominated the competition since it began, winning eight
times in nine tries.
Obama Plays Santa for a Day at DC Hospital
Mansfield Mayor David Cook is hopeful they'll be able to keep the streak alive this year,
but says it's the entire North Texas community that ultimately comes out on top. "For
those of us that know the mission of the Salvation Army -- "Doing the Most Good" --
that warms your heart," said Cook. "And you know that most of the money that's being
raised is going directly to families that are in need."
Last year, the mayors raised more than $90,000. Their goal this year is to reach
$100,000.
Below is a list of where each mayor will be.
City of Euless Mayor Pro Tem Tim Stinneford
Location: Kroger, 1600 N. Main Street, Euless 76039
Time: 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
City of Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams
Location: Decorator’s Warehouse, 3708 W Pioneer Pkwy, Arlington 76013
Time: 10 a.m. - Noon
City of Dalworthington Gardens Mayor Laurie Bianco
Location: Campo Verde Restaurant, 2918 W Pioneer Pkwy, Dalworthington Gardens
76013
Time: 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
City of Mansfield Mayor David Cook
Location: Walmart Supercenter, 930 N. Walnut Creek Drive, Mansfield 76063
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Town of Pantego Mayor Doug Davis
Location: Walmart Neighborhood Market, 2610 W Pioneer Pkwy, Pantego 76013
Time: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
City of Hurst Mayor Henry Wilson
Location: Walmart Neighborhood Market, 720 W. Pipeline Road, Hurst 76053
Time: 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
City of Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin
Location: Kroger 2109 Harwood Road, 2109 Harwood Rd, Bedford 76021
Time: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
City of North Richland Hills Mayor Oscar Trevino
Location: Kroger 7201 Boulevard 26, North Richland Hills 76180
Time: 5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.
City of Kennedale Mayor Brian Johnson
Location: Walmart Supercenter, Merchandise Door, 4800 US 287 Hwy, Arlington
76017
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
City of Burleson Mayor Ken Shetter
- Raising funds through Countertop Kettles