Here are the 14 projects to watch in and around Fort Worth
February 15,2023
See full Dallas Business Journal article by Spencer Brewer here.
While economic headwinds have are present in Tarrant County, there are still several notable projects in the works that promise to have a lasting impact on the region.
Here are some of the commercial projects worth following on the western side of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Please note that this list isn’t comprehensive. The developments selected for this list were chosen for prominence and estimated impact. Information about these developments came from prior coverage by the Dallas Business Journal.
The developments selected were limited to office, industrial, mixed-use and prominent multi-family. These projects are either in development, have broken ground last year or are scheduled to break ground soon.
There are multiple expansive projects on the west side of North Texas that don’t meet the criteria for this story, including the Central City Flood Control Project potential impact on Panther Island and Texas A&M University System’s downtown Fort Worth expansion. All of these projects have made recent headway, and we’re keeping a close eye on them as they develop.
The development pipeline for downtown Fort Worth is currently $2.3 billion. These projects include over 3,200 multifamily units and over 1,500 hotel rooms.
“The environment of downtown has reached a point of market acceptance and value,” said Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc. “The market itself is working the way it should.”
The downtown market has seen significant momentum, and there doesn’t appear to be any slowdown. Factors like Texas A&M’s expansion are keeping activity high, Taft said.
Across Fort Worth, civic leaders are getting more aggressive about recruiting office jobs. The Fort Worth Chamber is taking several measures to become more proactive. For starters, it’s leveraging fundraising efforts into increased scouting for potential companies.
“We love industrial. It’s our bread and butter. It’s a huge asset for us, and we’re going to continue to push hard for that and be very blessed. It’s a big, distinguishing characteristic of Fort Worth. However, we do need office jobs,” said Brandom Gengelbach, president of the Fort Worth Chamber, in an interview with the Business Journal earlier this year.
The Fort Worth Chamber currently has 177 projects in the pipeline.
The city of Fort Worth is taking several measures to up its economic development strategy. Among these is the creation of the Economic Development Initiatives Fund, which can be used for several economic development initiatives including deal closing.
Across Tarrant County, other municipalities are pushing to bring in development. Admiral Legacy Investments and the City of Mansfield recently revealed a development that has the potential to create a class A office market that doesn’t currently exist in the area. In an interview with the Business Journal last year, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said the city is working to create its own skyline.
The Town of Southlake is prioritizing office development on its remaining land, intent on becoming a corporate magnet in Tarrant County. To date, Southlake is 92% built-out, with the major remaining tracts of land located along State Highway 114. The town is vying for a larger corporate presence going forward, centered around those properties.
While the market is experiencing headwinds, fundamentals are still strong on the western side of DFW. Fort Worth recently saw an upswing in new commercial building permits. Last year developers took out 2,381 new commercial building permits, a roughly 58% increase over the year prior.
Location Mentioned: Texas A&M University School of Law