Plano has approved an agreement that could provide hundreds of millions of dollars in public sector funding to support redevelopment of the city's Collin Creek Mall.

The mostly vacant, 37-year-old shopping mall on U.S. Highway 75 is set to get made over into a $1 billion mixed-use development with new office, residential, hotel and retail space.

Developer Centurion American Development Group bought the 100-acre property late last year and has been working with city officials and neighboring residents on the redo.

Plano's City Council unanimously approved a development agreement with the new owners on Monday night.

"The purpose for this agreement is to form a framework for the public-private partnership that we are forming to help finance and make this project happen," Peter Braster, Plano's director of special projects, said.

The redevelopment agreement, which is still being ironed out, would provide funding through bond sales, grants and other initiatives to pay for new infrastructure and other elements of the huge redevelopment.

Plano plans to set up public improvement districts and a tax increment reinvestment zone to help fund the project.

Residents of the area have given overwhelming support for the deal. Before the vote, Plano's council got 74 responses in favor of the Collin Creek plan and only one phone call in opposition.

"It's a small price for the city to pay to redevelop Collin Creek and not have a Valley View in Plano — that's what we don't want," said Robert Miller, who represented homeowners' groups. "Plano needs the revitalization of the mall."

While Plano pushes ahead with Collin Creek, Dallas' Valley View mall on LBJ Freeway has languished for several years, with a stalled redevelopment plan, lawsuits and delays in construction. Demolition crews recently began pulling down more of the vacant shopping center.

"This project is fabulous. It must go through," Plano resident Janet Miller told the council. "We must make this so it is one of the best developments in our city.

"We don't want to look at this and see Valley View — desolate and horrible."

Built in the early 1980s, Collin Creek mall has been largely vacant. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

Centurion American's plan for Collin Creek calls for tearing down a large section of the mall and building new restaurants, shops and a hotel. There would be almost 9 acres of parks and 1.6 miles of hiking trails.

More than 1 million square feet of office space is also planned.

The developers are also studying the addition of a Crystal Lagoon water feature in the project.

Plano's council members all supported the redevelopment, even though it includes more than 2,000 apartments.

Opposition to the construction of apartments has divided the community over the last few years.

"Apartments, they are for everybody — every stage of life," said homeowner David Faidley, who spoke in favor of the project. "The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment just west of this location is about $1,900 a month.

Faidley said he and his wife were renters when they first moved to Plano. "The people who live in that area, they look like you, they look like me and our neighbors," he said.

Centurion American hopes to start work at Collin Creek this year.

The company is one of North Texas' biggest developers, building everything from large-scale suburban neighborhoods to historic redevelopments in downtown Dallas, including the Statler Hotel and the Cabana Hotel.