Panther Island open house welcomes developers, neighbors to learn about plan
March 31,2024
See full Fort Worth Report article by Rachel Behrndt here.
Neighborhood and business leaders, contractors and the curious converged on the Rose Marine Theater on North Main Street to learn more about the newly released plan for Panther Island.
HR&A Advisors delivered its final strategic vision on March 5 for 300-plus acres of land along the new bypass channels constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the next decade. The plan will serve as a roadmap for development, planning and decision-making in and around the island.
The report makes the distinction between the $1.16 billion Central City flood control project, which will create a 1.5-mile bypass channel and reroute part of the Trinity River, and Panther Island which would transform hundreds of acres between downtown and the Northside community.
The city anticipates construction to begin on the north bypass channel in 2025, but interest in the real estate available on Panther Island has already begun, Assistant City Manager Dana Burghdoff said.
City staff plan to meet with several neighborhood groups in Northside over the next weeks and months to present the plan. Burghdoff highlighted the plan’s focus on involving the broader community and developing equitably in and around Panther Island.
A series of posters spaced around the room displayed information from Panther Island Vision 2.0 documents, with consultants from HR&A Advisors, Lake Flato Architects, and others on hand to answer questions about the report.
The city of Fort Worth — along with the water district, Tarrant County, Streams & Valleys, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., Tarrant County College and the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth — pooled together $560,000 to hire HR&A in early 2023.
Next, the city plans to implement several portions of the Vision 2.0 report, including land development rules to guide zoning on Panther Island, and a mobility study to determine how to get people on and off the island.
Yuri Montaño, of Taxilastone, came to learn more about the project and see if it could become a potential source of business. Most of her business is currently in Dallas.
“This is an amazing project, Fort Worth needs something like this,” Montaño said.
The open house also drew downtown business leaders who have been anticipating the Panther Island project for decades. Dave O’Lenick, sales manager with Hilton Fort Worth, said he’s excited for the project to coincide with residential growth downtown.
Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Location Mentioned: Panther Island Pavilion