Irving’s annual state-of-the-city event highlighted recent economic development efforts while looking forward to city projects slated for 2020.

Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer boasted of some of the city's key accomplishments in 2019, including headquarter relocations and expansions; philanthropic programs; and recent work on city recreation facilities.

One of those headquarter relocations was Pioneer Natural Resources; another Microsoft’s planned office expansion, which is planned to add 575 new jobs to the area. In 2019, Irving also unveiled major renovations at its golf course and conducted work to extend Campion Trail throughout Irving and into other nearby cities.

Stopfer said one project on the horizon is the infrastructure improvements of a 90-acre site where SH 183, SH 114 and Loop 12 converge. He said the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Council recently green-lighted plans for intersection work at that site.

"Just to put this in perspective, it's a $420 million project, which we just got approved this last week at the RTC,” Stopfer said “It will be the largest project that's been done in the Dallas TxDOT region. They'll be working 24/7 for four years to complete this facility.”


Stopfer said he sees that undeveloped land, which is encompassed by a larger, 500-acre site, as one of Irving’s last chances to substantially increase its tax base.

"We shouldn't build an office building in there that's less than 15 stories,” he said. "We shouldn't build an apartment complex that's less than 10 stories because if we're going to move this city forward, we're going to need a tax base in the future. This whole development in this area will probably never be completed in my lifetime."

Stopfer also underscored the importance of Irving City Council’s work on refining the propositions that will appear before voters May 2.

The propositions include hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for road projects; parks and recreation facilities; and public safety.


"It doesn't have everything that everybody wants, but it has a good share of what we can do to keep the city moving forward,” Stopfer said.