Fort Worth / Arlington (Tarrant County)

[Geographer]

Anyone hearing anything new regarding the NW corner of I-30 and Collins in Arlington? IIRC, the City selected Trammel Crow to market the property for a large office development a while ago.

Arlington Updates
Just on the east side of Collins, the Champions Park development is starting to have more of its restaurants open over the next few weeks.

The former Eastern Star property south of AT&T Stadium has been sold to Arlington ISD and will be the site of the new state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center for the district. Texas Live is under construction and I believe the stadium area is under construction now as well.

There is a new Drury Suites that came before the P&Z Commission a few weeks ago that will be located on the SW corner of I-30 and Center Street, near Lincoln Square. It will include a retail pad site to frame the corner of Road to Six Flags and Center St. A bank will frame the opposite corner on the SE side of Road to Six Flags and Center St.

If you haven't been to downtown Arlington lately, there are several small infill projects occurring...coffee shops, wine bars, music venue, etc. A Panera Bread will also be opening in the College Park mixed-use development near the University as well.

[Geographer]

Another mixed-use development coming to downtown Arlington:

https://downtownarlington.org/news/p...own-arlington/

The ground floors of both North and South Buildings will include space for commercial development: 15,000 square ft. for restaurants and retailers in the North Building and 10,000 square ft. of office space in the South Building facing Abram, Mesquite and Elm Streets.

Park Place Arlington will have 299 residential units.

[Sic'EmBears]

Hotel group taking swing at new project near Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys stadiums



Project Location

Drury Development Corp., the Missouri-based hotel development group behind Drury-branded hotels, has acquired a 9.24-acre tract in north Arlington for a new full-service lodging.

The 268-room Drury Plaza Hotel will include an upscale restaurant, and will cater to Arlington's growing list of entertainment options, including the $4 billion Texas Live! mixed-use development surrounding the Texas Rangers' new $1.1 billion ballpark.

"Drury was drawn to the development opportunity in north Arlington due to the area's tremendous growth, many amenities and extensive entertainment options that regularly draw hotel guests from more than 100 miles away," Larry Jordan, a senior vice president at Transwestern's Dallas office, said in a prepared statement.

The construction timeline for the new Drury Plaza Hotel was not immediately available on Tuesday.

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Fort Worth's new TEX Rail cars:

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Armour Hotel planned for former meatpacking site in the Historic Stockyards



Project Location

Three years after buying the property, a Fort Worth Stockyards development group is planning a $21 million, 120-room hotel called the Armour Hotel and has asked the city for an incentive on the project.

The City Council heard terms of a proposed $1 million incentive Tuesday for the project planned off East Exchange Avenue.

Under those terms, the group, Niles City Resort Ltd., would be required to invest a minimum of $21 million by December 2019 to develop a four-star hotel. The hotel would be required to have at least 40 full-time employees on staff a year later.

The hotel’s facade must be masonry and reflect the historical and architectural heritage of the Stockyards, according to the terms.

Philip Murrin said the five-story hotel is the first in a three-phased project at the site. Construction should start in early 2018 and the hotel be open by spring of 2019, he said.

On Tuesday, most of the council expressed support for the project.

[Sic'EmBears]

Why Louis Vuitton chose this ranch south of Fort Worth for a factory


BusinessOfFashion

Project Location

Johnson County might not be known for high fashion, but that hasn’t stopped Paris-based luxury retailer Louis Vuitton from selecting the rural area south of Fort Worth for its third U.S. manufacturing plant.

A large ranch just outside of Keene, about 28 miles south of downtown Fort Worth, has been purchased by Louis Vuitton for construction of a leather goods workshop to make luggage and purses. The facility is expected to be under construction by early next year and open by 2019, eventually employing up to 500 people, officials said.

“Most of their manufacturing plants are in more isolated places,” Harmon said. “They call their employees artisans, and they like an area with a lot of serenity to it. They’re going to put a lot of glass in the building, so the workers will have a view of the land. It’s still going to stay a working ranch. They have exotic game now.”

Louis Vuitton operates 17 workshops worldwide, including two in California. Most of the workshops are in Europe, a company official said.

The Texas workshop probably will have fewer than 100 employees in the first year, with a gradual expansion to about 500 employees over several years, the official said.

Construction of the Louis Vuitton plant is expected to cost about $20 million.

[Sic'EmBears]

$1.5 billion residential community coming north of Fort Worth

A $1.5 billion residential community planned between Fort Worth and Denton will bring more than 3,000 new homes.
Hillwood Communities, a Perot company, is building the 1,157-acre Pecan Square project in the Denton County town of Northlake. The mixed-use project on FM407 will have building sites for more than 600 homes in the first phase.
Houses in the development will be priced starting at about $270,000.
Hillwood Communities just purchased the land. The largest portion is a longtime equestrian center, Woodhill Farm. The developer plans to repurpose some of the horse farm buildings.

The area leading up to the stables is lined with hundreds of mature pecan trees, which give the project its name and will be preserved.

"We'll break ground next spring," Balda said. "We think that by the summer of 2019 you'll see it be offered to the marketplace."

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High-rise residential tower will overlook downtown Fort Worth, developer says


@DTFortWorth

Project Location

A 24-story luxury residential condominium tower with scenic views is in the works just blocks from the center of downtown.

Developers say the estimated $100 million project will complement efforts to draw business to the region.

It will feature 115 homes with amenities that includes panoramic views of downtown Fort Worth, the Cultural District, Trinity River and Panther Island.

“There is not a bad view,” said Al Coker, owner of Al Coker & Associates, a Dallas marketing and sales firm specializing in luxury condominiums, who is working on the project.

He added: “Everything is going that way because of Panther Island. ... [It’s] one of the few places where you can see the sun set and the sun rise.”

GDA Architects, a Dallas architectural firm, is working on the design.

The tower will have glass walls and balconies that offer “miles of views,” according to the press release.

Building amenities will also include valet parking, concierge services, owners’ lounges, a fitness center, a saltwater pool, cabanas, an outdoor kitchen, fireplace and spa.

The Worth sales office is expected to open near the site in 2018.

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Dickies Arena:

Project Location




DMSA

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AC Hotel, a brand popular in Europe, gets key incentive to build in downtown Fort Worth


Fort Worth Business

Project Location

Construction on the $68.5 million, 16-story AC Hotel on Main Street in downtown Fort Worth will begin mid-2018, the developer said Wednesday after a special taxing district approved a $4.1 million incentive for the project.

For a moment during the Downtown Tax Increment Finance District board meeting, though, it appeared the project might be derailed for lack of support.

At issue was whether public dollars could be used to pay for a transformer that Oncor electric utility requires for the building. In downtown, Oncor requires an electrical vault for the transformer and two back-up transformers in the case of outages.

Of the developer’s $4.1 million request, $3.1 million would be reimbursement for the electrical vault, which is typically built under the sidewalk. The developer will receive the money over 22 months.

The money will come from property taxes generated within a designated area downtown. The money is reinvested in development instead of going into the city’s general fund.

The land has been used as a 32-space parking lot for the past 20 years. It will take two years to build, according to the developer, Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw.

The building will include space for shops and restaurants, meeting rooms and a rooftop patio. The project was approved by the Downtown Design Review Board in November.

[mugofbeer]

I think the architecture for the Ft Worth arena is outstanding.

[HangryHippo]

I think the architecture for the Ft Worth arena is outstanding.

+1. Incredible.

[Geographer]

Absolutely. I love they were able to incorporate the existing architectural style of the area from the Will Rogers building and surrounding museums. It screams "Fort Worth".

[Sic'EmBears]

Facebook's Fort Worth data center is getting bigger to make room for all your holiday snaps



Project Location

Facebook's mega sized data center in North Fort Worth is getting even bigger.

Facebook this week filed building permits to construct two more huge data center halls at its Fort Worth campus. The construction permits for the space totaled more than $365 million in value.

The 150-acre high-tech campus is expected to top out at more than $1 billion in value and is the largest concentration of computing power in the state.

The buildings house acres of computer servers and the equipment needed to keep them powered, cooled and running 24 hours a day.

"It's physically one of the largest we've ever built," Facebook's Tom Furlong said at the May grand opening.

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Grapevine council approves $30M contract to begin TEXRail construction



Project Location

Grapevine City Council approved a contract with Coury Hospitality for Phase 1 of the TEXRail project coming to the corner of Main Street and Dallas Road at its meeting Dec. 5. The contract amount is not to exceed $30,185,180.

The contract allows the Coury Hospitality team to begin construction of the garage, basement and site work for the project. With the approval, crews can mobilize on the TEXRail site during December and begin construction so that the garage is ready to receive commuter rail traffic by December 2018.

“I think this is going to be an amazing project,” Council Member Darlene Freed said.

A second guaranteed maximum price for Phase 2 of the project will be brought before the council in March, which will encompass the station, the plaza and the tower at the TEXRail station.

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Frost Tower:


Austin55

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American Airlines' new Pelli-designed HQ:

Project Location


Star-Telegram


Star-Telegram


DBJ

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Tarleton's set to begin construction on first Fort Worth building this month



Project Location

Tarleton State University is set to break ground on its first building in Fort Worth on Feb. 27. The building is part of a planned 80-acre campus along Chisholm Trail Parkway.

Currently, Tarleton-Fort Worth rents space in the Hickman Building on Camp Bowie Boulevard and in the Richard C. Shaffer Building on Enderly Pace. About 2,000 students are enrolled at the Fort Worth location, but the school hopes to expand to 9,000 students on the new campus by 2030.

The first project is a 76,000 square foot, three-story multipurpose academic building and has a budget of almost $41 million.

Wilson-Stonaker

[Geographer]

The Park Place development in downtown Arlington is underway. Demolition crews have been clearing out two blocks over the last few weeks. Here's a couple links to a description of the development:

https://downtownarlington.org/news/p...own-arlington/

https://www.bisnow.com/dallas-ft-wor...from-uta-86403

Park7 Group’s new Class-A student housing development, Park Place Arlington, broke ground one block from UT Arlington. The development will house 298 units, 701 beds and roughly 9K SF of street-level retail space. “Downtown is moving quickly toward what so many in Arlington have envisioned: a vibrant environment where you can truly live, work and play,” Park7 Group President and CEO Ronald Gatehouse said in a statement. “Park Place Arlington will bring more than 700 new residents and additional retail amenities to further enhance the vibrancy of downtown Arlington — an area that the Mayor, City Council, staff and residents of Arlington have done such a great job of transforming into one of the best-planned and most admired in the country.” The development bears the city of Arlington’s blessing as part of the Arlington Comprehensive Plan to increase the vibrancy of the area. “[Our] staff has worked with Park7 Group from the onset to create a project that supports Arlington’s Comprehensive Plan. The project will result in a mix of uses serving a diverse population and meeting the current housing needs of people desiring to live in downtown and within close proximity to the university,” city of Arlington Planning Manager Jennifer Pruitt said in a statement.

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Software firm plans 1,000-job campus in Grapevine; city offers $5 million in tax incentives



Project Location

Oklahoma-based Paycom Software Inc., a payroll and HR services firm, will locate a new corporate campus near State Highway 121 in Grapevine.

The 14-acre office center will be in the same area as Kubota's North American headquarters.

City of Grapevine is offering $ 5 million in tax incentives to Paycom, which is purchasing the 14 acres from the city.

The company plans to start its new Grapevine operation with a single building to house several hundred employees.

The company plans to begin construction on the new campus next year and move in 2020.

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Grapevine lands a second major corporate office deal in one week


Exhibitor

Project Location

The company will break ground immediately on a two-story, 200,000-square-foot office building north of DFW International Airport near State Highway 121.

The new building will increase by more than 50 percent the size of The Trade Group's facility in Carrollton.

Founded in 1986, The Trade Group has worked with clients including Facebook, Google Home, Pepsico, Motel 6, Walt Disney, Xbox, Warner Brothers and Community Coffee.

The new headquarters will have room on the ground floor for graphics production, fabrication and warehouse space. The upper level will house office space and meeting areas.

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Commercial Air Service Arriving at Fort Worth's Meacham Int'l Airport


Meacham

Project Location

The City of Fort Worth says commercial air service at Meacham International Airport is imminent within the next two years, with Frontier and Allegiant airlines among those interested.

"The airlines would like to start within the next six months, but realistically I'd expect we are a year and a half to two years out. We have a lot of work to do," said William Welstead, director of Fort Worth's Airport System.

Welstead said the biggest challenge facing Meacham is available space and facilities and parking will need to be constructed before service can begin.

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City Council approves funds for Grapevine Main community plaza Peace Circle



Project Location

At its meeting July 3, the Grapevine City Council unanimously acted to designate $895,000 to purchase decorative art for its new community plaza.

The art, called the Peace Circle, will serve as the focal point of the plaza, which will be developed alongside the Grapevine Main TEXRail train station, the boutique Hotel Vin and parking garage.

The Peace Circle will be comprised of 11, life-size bronze figures placed in a walkable circle to reflect on the historic peace treaty meeting held at Grapevine Springs with General Sam Houston.

The general will be one scultpture, and the 10 Native American nations will comprise the other sculptures in the circle. The width of the circle itself will stretch more than 40 feet across and will be designed for observers to interact and study the sculptures.

Funding for the Peace Circle comes from the Public Art Fund and the Convention and Visitors Bureau Fund. Chief Financial Officer Greg Jordan specified that the Public Art Fund is not taxpayer dollars and comes from city agreements with cell companies.

McCallum told city staff the installation will be thoroughly researched to be fully accurate in its design. The city will also seek approval by the Native American nations for the depiction, or leading national sources such as the National Museum of the American Indian, the Texas Historical Commission and the Oklahoma Historical Society, or a combination of these options.

Grapevine Artist in Residence Linda Lewis will be the lead sculptor and several other sculptors will be engaged to assist in the completion of individual statues.

Members of the American Indian Nations will also be invited to participate in the process.

The project has an estimated completion date of May 2020.

[Geographer]

This is from a few months ago - but the City of Arlington is redeveloping the current convention center space into an "E-Sports Stadium".

Article Link

[HangryHippo]

E-Sports as in video games?