Walk into the Children's Health StarCenter Multisport on a weeknight and the building is already in full use. One ice sheet runs public skating. The other has a hockey showcase. Across the central corridor, eight basketball courts have been flipped to volleyball configuration for a TAV Alliance practice. The Shark Shack concession is open. The building smells like cold air and popcorn.
This opened March 31, 2026. Leagues were running within days. The thesis of this post is direct: Northlake crossed from a town with good bones into a town with a functioning weekend, and most residents still have it filed under "coming soon." That file is out of date.
The Facility That Changed the Calculus
The StarCenter is a Dallas Stars public-private project, financed through hotel tax revenue rather than property tax dollars. The Stars brought the operational model — they now run 11 StarCenters across DFW, a network that has produced alumni including Stanley Cup champions Seth Jones and Blake Coleman and 2026 Olympic gold medalist Hannah Bilka. What Northlake received is the largest version of that model.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total size | 225,000 sq ft |
| Ice rinks | 2 NHL-regulation sheets |
| Basketball / volleyball | 8 courts (convertible to 16 volleyball) |
| Pickleball | 16 courts |
| Anchor tenant | TAV Alliance (elite club volleyball) |
| Address | 13850 Chadwick Parkway |
| Opened | March 31, 2026 |
The rinks carry local names. One honors Northlake Mayor Brian Montini for his work securing the project. The other honors former Dallas Star and GM Joe Nieuwendyk. The gyms are named for Rhyle McKinney, a deaf Argyle basketball player who won three state championships and went on to play at SMU and Texas Tech, and Paige Flickinger, a Byron Nelson volleyball standout who was named Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year and went on to play at LSU. These names are not branding. They are the local record.
Leagues for hockey, basketball, and volleyball launched immediately. Public skating runs throughout the week. According to the Dallas Stars' official announcement, the facility is projected to draw 1.3 million annual visitors, pulling from Flower Mound, Highland Village, Argyle, and Denton. If you have not been, you are behind the people who figured this out in April.
The Dining Cluster That Was Already There
While the StarCenter was under construction, the dining situation along FM 407 and at Northlake Commons was already being built. Most residents outside the Harvest community have not fully mapped it. Here is what is already operating:
Bella's Italian Bistro (101 Plaza Place, Suite 500) handles the neighborhood-Italian role with consistency. Lasagna, chicken parmigiana, spaghetti carbonara, gluten-free options. Regulars mention the staff by name, which is the only review metric that actually matters.
Burgers & Curries (5000 TX-114, Suite 100) is a concept that has no business working and does. All-American burgers and milkshakes alongside authentic Indian curries, biryanis, and tandoori, on a patio with beer and a game on TV. It is the most referenced Northlake restaurant in local conversation, and there is nothing else like it in southern Denton County.
Kurogi Ramen and Sushi (1248 FM 407, Suite 100) is the answer to the drive you used to make to Flower Mound or Denton for decent ramen. Fresh ingredients, wide menu, and reviewed consistently as a real destination rather than a convenience stop.
Tequila Ranch Cocina (1485 Commons Circle, Suite 400) approaches Mexican food with more intention than the category typically gets in this corridor.
Northlake Café (1611 Commons Circle, Suite 300) is the local breakfast and lunch anchor. Owners Fadil and Shpresa Memedi run the kind of place where the staff knows your order. The Berry Dream French Toast and Cinnamon Swirl Slammers are menu items regulars order without opening the menu.
Gyro & Grill Mediterranean (1242 FM 407) handles gyros, falafel, Greek fries, and shawarma bowls at a price point that holds up as a weekday lunch. There is no equivalent in this zip code.
Six distinct cuisines, walkable from each other at Northlake Commons or within a short drive along FM 407. This is not a handful of options scattered across a sprawling commercial strip. It is a real cluster, and it predates the StarCenter.
What Opens This Summer
The Shark Club Sports Bar and Grill is scheduled to open inside the StarCenter in June 2026. It is owned by Tom Gaglardi, the Dallas Stars owner, and first opened in Vancouver in 1993. Two stories, attached to the facility, with a menu that runs from butter chicken and shishito peppers to chicken wings and weekend brunch including breakfast tacos. This is not a sports bar bolted onto a parking lot. It is a full-service restaurant inside a regional sports destination.
At Northlake Commons, Crave Cookies is under construction at 101 Plaza Place, Suite 100, taking the former Vanellies Bake Shop site. Northlake Crossing at the intersection of Gibbs and Robson Ranch Roads and Pecan Plaza at FM 407 and Gibbs Road are both under construction. A Tom Thumb grocery store at FM 407 and I-35W was under construction with a spring 2026 target. The Cambria Hotel and Northlake Conference Center recently opened at the I-35W and SH 114 intersection — the town's first full-service hotel.
The pattern: Northlake is not one announcement away from a functioning commercial infrastructure. It is in the middle of filling out a grid that already has working anchor points.
If You're Inside Harvest, There Is a Second Layer
Everything above is visible from the road. What is less visible is what Hillwood built inside Harvest for residents who do not want to drive anywhere.
Farmhouse Coffee & Treasures operates inside the neighborhood, which means the Saturday morning coffee run does not require leaving the community. The amenity footprint includes an 11-acre man-made lake with walking trails around the perimeter, over five miles of trails throughout the community, a working farm where residents can grow produce, a Fit Barn, the 1.5-mile Central Park green space, two resort-style pool areas, a Red Barn with fire pits and horseshoe pits, and a dog park with separate enclosures for large and small dogs. The Event Lawn, which overlooks Harvest Lake, anchors a year-round events calendar run by a Lifestyle Director program that the Dallas Builders Association has recognized multiple times.
Residents inside Harvest have had this layer for several years. What has changed is what is now accessible within a few minutes of the gate: a 225,000-square-foot sports complex, a real dining cluster, a hotel with a conference center, and a grocery store. The internal and external amenity layers of this town are finally working in the same direction at the same time.
If your mental model of Northlake is still "it's getting there," this post has the update. The StarCenter is running spring leagues. Six restaurants are serving dinner tonight. The Shark Club opens in June. The grocery store is built. What Northlake has been building is no longer a set of promises — it is a week's worth of plans.
Ryan Stoddard works with buyers and sellers across Northlake, Argyle, and the surrounding North Texas corridor. If you want to talk through what is happening in this market, schedule a free consultation.
