With Sex Shops Gone, Kennedale Gears for Development

KENNEDALE, TX—This town of 7,000-plus has some great things going for it, not the least of which is that it combines small-town charm with an ideal location just southeast of Fort Worth. "If you go back into the neighborhoods, this is a lovely community with a lot of great houses that have higher values than nearby Mansfield and South Arlington," notes Jack Thompson, whose Fort Worth-based company Orasi is providing economic development consulting services to Kennedale.

But in the past, Kennedale has had trouble attracting developers, with the reason boiling down to three words: sexually oriented businesses. "This had an enormous impact on development and interest," says Bob Hart, Kennedale Economic Development Corp.'s executive director. "When we talked to some industries about relocating here, every one of them told me to call them back when the sexually oriented businesses at the north end of town closed down."

The good news for Kennedale's future is that, thanks to an agreement, these establishments shut down on Feb. 29 and went elsewhere. The former site of four sex shops at Interstate 20 and West Kennedale Parkway is now being platted for a convenience store/gas station. Meanwhile, the economic development council acquired nearby land, once the site of yet another such business. Thompson says the goal is to find a casual sit-down restaurant for that acreage.

Kennedale never put out the welcome mat for those SOBs, as they're called. Rather, their history reaches back to the 1970s, when Kennedale was annexed to the city of Fort Worth. Cowtown, which wanted to rid itself of the businesses, quietly pushed them to the annexed land. Hart says that when Kennedale came out of annexation in 1999, the move was on to clean up the businesses.

Even while the city was striking deals with the SOBs, one project, Kennedale Town Center, moved from planning stages to construction launch. Located on West Kennedale Parkway near the center of town, the project represents a partnership between the city and Cypress Properties of Austin. Construction began in 2009 and, upon build-out, the property will have 67,000 square feet over seven buildings dedicated to mixed uses including restaurants, retail and medical, dental and traditional office space. In other words, notes David Johnson, president of Cypress, "all those services people shouldn't have to drive more than a mile or two to get to."

The next step is to move the town forward. Road widening and roundabout construction has begun on many of its streets. Hart says the plan is also to build neighborhood villages throughout the community, complete with retail and office uses. He says he'd also like to bring in light industrial firms.