$40M Urban Village Plan Takes Redevelopment's Center Stage

The grandiose plan calls for a pedestrian-friendly, infill neighborhood with office, retail and loft-style apartments. "It will bring a unique fabric to the City of Fort Worth. It's a true infill development," Jim Eagle, president of the locally based Red Oak Realty, tells GlobeSt.com about the landmark project. So as not to outdo the ado about a ceremonial construction start, Magnolia Green's fine points were kept as quiet as possible until after yesterday's ground-breaking for the Texas Cancer Care's 51,000-sf diagnostic and therapeutic center. For that story, click here. But now, Eagle is openly discussing Magnolia Green in depth.

The next ground-breaking will be held within 90 days--a 35,000-sf build-to-suit with seven drive-through lanes for Wells Fargo Bank. The bank operates out of 28,000 sf on the first floor of the 100,000-sf Quicksilver Resources Inc. headquarters building at 777 Rosedale and maintains a vintage 18-lane, drive-through facility, which has a date with a wrecking ball. Wells Fargo's plan is to occupy the new building in April 2005.

Construction starts have yet to be set for a 350-space parking garage, 36 "for rent" lofts in designs from 800 sf to 1,400 sf, 15,000 sf of retail and a one-acre park. One tract, which could support 20 more lofts, is being held in reserve for the time being. Eagle says build-out will be demand-driven, but should take five to seven years to complete.

The estimated $40-million investment, mostly all new construction, is being financed with equity from a high-net worth family from Fort Worth. Red Oak Realty is the developer of record for a project designed by Turner Boaz Stocker Architecture in Dallas. Thos. S. Byrne Inc. of Fort Worth is the general contractor and Coy Talley, principal in Talley & Associates in Dallas, is the landscape architect.

Magnolia Village's funding channel includes $2 million in local, state and federal grants for "eye candy" like landscaping, pavers and trees for a project area bounded by Rosedale Street on the north, Magnolia Street on the south, Hemphill Street on the east and Alston Avenue on the west. To help get the project going, the city turned over Lipscomb Street to the development group as a private street that will be renamed to Magnolia Green Drive.

City council designated a handful of urban village tracts, with Empowerment Zone entitlements, to spur in-town development, particularly in and near the medical and cultural districts. Eagle says Magnolia Village, rising within walking distance of the medical district, is envisioned as an equal to Dallas' West Village, but with a public park and more green space.