Does The Star’s Bankruptcy Mean Tom Hicks is Downsizing and Tom Gaglardi is Moving to Dallas?

Update: It seems all these sports teams buying, selling and going belly-up are very good for the local real estate market. Remember, it brought Chuck Greenberg to Vaquero! This post is also on CandysDirt.com.

So, the Dallas Stars have filed a bankruptcy package that will ease them out of some debt and hopefully smooth the way for a possible sale to Vancouver-based businessman Tom Gaglardi and his family. Gaglardi, reports Bloomberg,  is chairman and chief executive officer of Sandman Hotels, Inns & Suites. (Is that like “Mr. Sandman?”) According to the Dallas Morning News (subscription required):

“Gaglardi, 43, is involved in hotels and restaurants in Canada through his family’s Northland Properties. Gaglardi recently purchased the Sutton Place hotels in Edmonton and Vancouver for $198 million.

Gaglardi has a hockey background. He tried to purchase the Vancouver Canucks in 2004 and currently is majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, of the juniors-level Western Hockey League.

Gaglardi’s father, Bob, studied mechanical engineering at LeTourneau University  in Longview, Texas. The magazine Canadian Business listed Bob Gaglardi as No. 39 on its list of richest Canadians, with an estimated worth of $1.47 billion. His son did not crack the top 100.”

Terms of the sale, which is always subject to a court-approved auction and acceptance by the league, and could be changed a hundred times, weren’t disclosed.

What I want to know is: how will this affect Dallas real estate? Will Mr. Gaglardi and his family move here? Will Mr. Hicks, who has recently been removed from the Forbes billionaires list, downsize to their beach home in California or elsewhere?

Forgive me, I hope the Hicks stay put because I cannot imagine packing up 29,000 square feet. But I’m trying to get ahead of the game. I have found the perfect home for Mr. Gaglardi in one of Kari Schlegel Kloewer’s beautiful listings: 9727 Audubon Place. $9,950,000. I have no doubt that Kari’s dad, Robert Schlegel, knows the Gaglardi’s because of their shared Canadian background and hockey conections. Surely Kari will show Mr. G. those seven bedrooms, at least 7.5 baths, three dining areas, 9 — NINE — living areas. Plus I think this includes the lot next door, which once belonged to some friends. When they sold their home, they were told it was going to be made into a driveway for 9727.

As for the Hicks gang, if this summer did you with the watering of 20-plus acres and A/C — though the Crespi Estate has it’s own well — let me suggest this beautiful and slightly more humble abode not too far away at 9339 Hathaway: construction by Sebastian Construction Group, interior design by Richard Trimble and landscape design by Harold Leidner. Less Italianate than what you have, this is a true French retreat in the heart of Dallas, Texas! Iron gates open to a cobblestone drive, and 2 prime Preston Hollow acres will still get you a well but far less watering. You will love the multi-level grand entryway,  marble flooring and a beautiful double staircase. The two-story formal living room has an exquisite fireplace, a custom-painted ceiling and views of the resort-style pool through a wall of windows. The formal dining room and the library feature antique paneling and moldings and French doors that open to verandas. The spacious master suite is downstairs and includes a sitting area with a domed ceiling and views of the pool and grounds. The master bath has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, a double shower, a jet tub, dual vanities, walk-in closets and a cedar storage closet plus an attached exercise room. The kitchen is just out of sight — Dacor, Asko and Sub-Zero, breakfast area with a fireplace offer views of the grounds. On this floor you will also have a theater with seating for twelve, a den with two walls of windows and a cast-stone fireplace, a card room, wet bar, and climate-controlled wine room. Oh also a guest bedroom with bath, of course, down here — great for grandbabies. Upstairs three bedroom suites, and an upstairs den. You also have an elevator, a guest apartment and seven garage spaces, a koi and goldfish pond, stone bridge leading over a creek to a bamboo forest and even a walking trail. Of course you are right down the street from your previous home, so it will be really the same old same old, just with a LOT less maintenance!