Grand Prairie just added a couple more to its collection of reasons to visit with the addition of Bass Pro Shops and Andretti Indoor Karting.
Bass Pro and Andretti will be built on the east side of State Highway 161 just south of Ikea and north of I 20.
Both are sought-after retail and entertainment businesses that will bring jobs and visitors to the southern Dallas County city that’s spent the past decade creating a destination along a newly built State Highway 161. In the past year, the North Texas Tollway Authority expanded the road, also known as the President George Bush Turnpike, from four lanes to six lanes.
New retail, restaurant and hotels have been built and continue to be added around the city’s ambitious Epic park and recreation area.
The 100,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops will be a new design concept and the Missouri-based retailer’s fifth in Dallas-Fort Worth. It will open in spring 2024 just south of Ikea.
Ikea was the first big catch for Grand Prairie’s new retail and entertainmnet corridor and helped to make the region a credible destination for others to follow by the time it opened in 2017.
Andretti will be on the northeast corner of SH 161 and Forum Drive. The 96,000-square-foot facility will feature its latest concept for an indoor climate-controlled go-cart track, arcade, virtual reality games, laser tag and duckpin bowling. It will open by the end of 2023.
“These two mega attractions are a perfect blend with Grand Prarie’s robust array of powerhouse retail, entertainment and tourist venues,” said Mayor Ron Jenson. “This SH 161 corridor in Grand Prairie is a game-changer.”
Jenson and the city council “think like entrepreneurs and are willing to push the edge,” said Marty Wieder, director of economic development for the city of Grand Prairie. “We’re having fun. We’re smack dab in the middle of 8 million people.”
More area residents are discovering “they can get here fast; we’re not that far from them,” he said. Many North Dallas residents are regular pickleball players at Chicken N Pickle, which opened at the end of last year.
Bolder Adventure Park is opening soon, and it’s on the city’s 172-acre Epic Arts, Fitness and Entertainment Center. Five new restaurants are about to open from October through early 2023, including the Loop 9 BBQ from Chili’s founder Larry Lavine, Wieder said.
Other big projects in the works include two hotels, a 129-room Hilton Garden Inn and a 147-room Home Suites, both attached to a 13,000-square-foot convention center. A Marriott Courtyard opened a year ago.
Wieder said the city is preparing to host future big games at the new USA Cricket stadium that will be finished next year.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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