After Three Fires (So Far) Valley View Demolition Continues

Beck Ventures still deciding what’s next for former mall location

More than a year after the closure of Valley View Mall’s last remaining tenant, an AMC theater, demolition of what’s left of the building has gained added urgency.

Dallas City Council member Jaynie Schultz, whose district includes the former mall, said Lindamood Demolition expedited the process after injuries to two firefighters in the second fire in as many months on March 16.

“​​Our firefighters being hurt was enough of an argument to the state that there was a mortal danger to leaving the building standing as is,” Schultz told the Dallas Morning News at the time. “This is something that should have been done a long time ago.”

Dallas Fire-Rescue responded on April 7 to the third blaze there in as many months. 

Months before the first fire on Feb. 11, Dallas Assistant City Attorney Charlotta Riley sent a demand letter in November 2022 to property owner Beck Ventures outlining 10 code violations, including objects or conditions on the premises that are “reasonably capable of causing injury to a person” after a pair of YouTubers showed how easy it is to get inside. The demand letter gave property owner Beck Ventures until June 1 to complete demolition.

Before the February fire, city workers found progress during a site visit on Dec. 7, 2022, with asbestos abatement beginning the week of Dec. 12.

However, in February 2023, the Dallas Police Department notified Beck Ventures that the mall site would be designated a habitual criminal property. Beck Ventures appealed.

A letter said, “We maintain a strong belief that once the structure has been demolished in its entirety, the potential for future incidents, given that all shared a common link to copper thieves and vandals, is naturally and logically rendered moot,” our sister publication D Magazine reported.

Beck Ventures CEO Scott Beck told the Dallas Morning News that he’s still assessing what he wants to put on the site and when.

But he was clear about what the firm doesn’t want there.

​​“We are not willing to put low-income housing on the project,” Beck told the News. “We believe what’s best for this area of Dallas is to build a world-class development.”

The Valley View site is in the 450-acre Dallas International District, north of Interstate 635, between Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway, including Galleria Dallas.

City plans for the Dallas International District include:

• a Dallas ISD K-12 STEAM school,

• a complete street overhaul for Montfort Drive,

• and a large park.