Report to Members & Partners

May 2001

Partner’s Breakfast - We thought that if nobody came we'd just split the donuts and write it off as a good idea a little ahead of its time. To our surprise 33 individuals attended Fort Worth South’s first Partner’s Breakfast and new business opportunities were the result. Nothing fancy. Just coffee, and donuts, and 60 minutes of business and property owners in the District talking about building commercial relationships. The second breakfast meeting will be held at Fort Worth National Bank, 701 West Magnolia, on Wednesday, June 6, from 8 am to 9 am. We'll do it monthly, until it is no longer of value. uData Net will host the July 11 meeting at their new offices at 120 S. Main Street.

St. Joseph’s Hospital - JPS is considering the purchase of the former hospital building. As part of the due diligence phase, they would like to know whether there are entities in the community who would consider leasing portions of the facility at fair market rates. Recall that 200,000 sq.ft. was wonderfully remodeled in 1998, and could be available for near term occupancy. In April 1997 the "St. Joseph's Re-use Task Force" poled 200 non-profit and public organizations in Fort Worth about their interest in acquiring or leasing space in the building. Thirty-one expressed interest in leasing 116,000 sf, but no one had the ability to acquire the property. We'd like to determine whether similar interests exist today. Call FWS at 923-1649 with your comments.

Magnolia Trees Next Year - Too much rain and wet ground at the City’s nursery located near Campus Drive and I-820 during the transplanting season prevented the City from transplanting trees to the vacant tree positions along W. Magnolia. The project will need to wait until next winter.

Central City Residential — Two weeks ago about 1,000 survey documents were delivered randomly to current central city residents, mostly living in the central business district. MP/F Research reports a surprisingly high initial return rate (280 of 1000 - 28%), and they are still coming in. Researchers are excited with a 10% return rate on mail-in surveys. 2,500 additional surveys were just distributed to employees in the central city and suburban areas of the city. Study results are due in early July.

Vickery TOD - The Fort Worth Business Press did a nice story in their May 25 issue about the proposed Transit Oriented Development on Vickery Boulevard, south of the T&P Depot. A meeting was held on April 5 with Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T), City Planning Department, Fort Worth South’s Development Committee, and the property owners in the West Vickery area. The T wants to expand Trinity Express parking, and is considering a parking structure. There are many examples of successful mixed-use developments adjacent to transit stations around the country, and the T wants to explore the opportunities on Vickery. An extraordinary turnout produced an extraordinary opportunity. There was consensus that a mixed-use development integrating parking, retail, commercial, and residential development along the corridor is a possible development scenario. The group endorsed the use of the design elements of Fort Worth South’s Urban Design Guidelines (An updated May 1, 2001 version is now available.). A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is being prepared and will be distributed by the City of Fort Worth’s Planning Department on behalf of their client, the T, to those developers familiar with TOD’s.

Parker Commons - Thanks to all who helped make the May 24 ribbon cutting ceremony for the Homes of Parker Commons a great success. It was an invigorating event for many reasons. Apartment sizes range from efficiencies to 3 bedroom/2 bath units. 40% of the 192 units will be leased at market rates ranging from about $850 to $1,175 per month. The remaining units are available to tenants at significantly discounted lease rates (as much as 50%) if annual household incomes don't exceed certain levels. The owner offers the discount because they have received a federal tax credit which requires them to offer apartments to qualified tenants at discounted lease rates. This is a federal program designed to encourage private sector developers to build housing that's affordable. For information call the Homes of Parker Commons at (817) 870-1739.

Stone Soup - The neighborhood non-profit that provides after school programs for needy kids at DeZavala Elementary and other central city schools is accepting gifts of old computer games. Call Sandra Medina at 923-6889.

Updated Web Sites - www.fortworthsouth.org is being updated and enhanced by webmaster Trevor Scott. Recent additions include, among others, architectural renderings of the new Tarrant County Public Health building planned for the corner of S. Main and Rosedale and the new Child Development Center now under construction at Terrell and Seventh.

Thanks, Grover - Security personnel from the major hospitals in the District met with Fort Worth Police officers for a full day of training on May 17. The initiative was designed to enhance the interface between the hospitals and the police department, and will result in meaningful improvements in the ways the entities interact. Special thanks to FWS Public Safety Committee Chair Grover McMains, Texas White House B&B, for encouraging and making the arrangements for the meeting. This will likely lead to hospital security officers having direct access to police radio channels. Grover represents FWS on the Police Citizen's Advisory Committee.

Union Gospel Mission - Physical improvements are coming to the 1200 block of East Lancaster, an area designated as the Community of Hope. Union Gospel Mission will soon to break ground on a $4 million expansion. A new 35,000 square foot two-story building will be built to accommodate homeless women and children. The building will have a kitchen, dining facilities, and a chapel. The existing Mission facility will be remodeled to serve the men. Larry Eason, chair of building committee, says that the improvements will increase the capacity of the Mission from 200 to 400 individuals.

Hemphill Underpass - Progress is being made to fund the construction of the extension of Hemphill from Vickery Boulevard north, under the railroad and Interstate 30, to Lancaster Boulevard in connection with the reconstruction of Lancaster. About $14 million have been identified which will fund the reconstruction of Lancaster, renovate the underpasses at Main and Jennings, and construct a new underpass at Hemphill. The projected completion date for the Hemphill underpass is 2004.

Teen Court Volunteers - Fran McCarthy, Daedalus Development, borrowed an idea from Councilwoman Becky Haskin and has supervised five kids on recent Saturday mornings who were fulfilling a required community service obligation. They did clean-up along Magnolia Avenue and at Thistle Hill. We’re exploring ways of improving the appearance of the neighborhood within the limits of no budget! Most of the remodeling work at Preservation Hall, 1519 Lipscomb, has been done with "community service volunteers."

Pipes - Roy Redmond graduated from the University of North Texas and in 1964 earned a Master of Sacred Music Degree from Southern Methodist University. In 1971 he turned his passion for music, and talent with mechanical things, into the Redmond Organ Company. Roy has built or rebuilt 76 pipe organs for customers from all over the country. His shop, which is located in a historic building on the corner of Vickery and Kentucky, is filled with, among other things, 1,200 organ pipes from an instrument originally built for the First Baptist church of Nashville. The array of pipes from large square wood pipes to tiny metal pipes will find its new home at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. Roy says that there are 35 firms and about 300 individuals in the United States (3 in Fort Worth) who do this kind of work.

Have / Want

Have office or retail for rent - First floor of the historic Bicochii Building, 213 S. Jennings, Rick Matus @ 337-2807

Have office for sale or lease - 300 College, 3,026 sf, Dan Moore @ 332-6300

Have loft apartments - 701W. Magnolia, 1,110 sf & 1,500 sf, above Ft. Worth National Bank, Fran McCarthy @ 817-233-4040

Have apartments - Historic Markeen Apts, large 1 BR, $850 per month, 210 St. Louis, Suzy @ 1-214-324-1904

Have office/warehouse for rent - 5,500 sf, 328 S. Adams, $8/ft, 709 W. Magnolia Ave, 1468 SF, $13.50/ft, Linda Clark @ 924-1987

Members - Welcome to Fort Worth South’s newest members. Thank you. There are now 194 members of the organization.