Jimmy

Funkytown seems contrived/forced and makes little sense to me. 

Except that it happened without any coordinate effort.  It's more organic than any of the other nicknames for the city.

This project is starting to be quite visible from the east as well.  Looking west from the intersection of S. Main and Vickery, for instance, the garage really looms large over I-30.

Is that in the Morrison Surplus Outlet building?

That's the one.

Twilite Lounge, a music venue & bar in Deep Ellum, is opening a second location in Fort Worth's near southside.

This was originally reported about a year ago, but I drove by the other day so I can confirm that work is now proceeding at the FW location.  It's at Lipscomb & Daggett - two blocks south of Vickery and a block west of Hemphill.  

For those of you that are P1's, Danny Balis is a co-owner of this establishment. 

THIS is some impressive research!

I've always hated this seemingly endless corridor of parking lots, and will be very glad to see what develops in this area.  

There was an open house at W.A. Powers this afternoon that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't accidentally stumbled upon it.  I wasn't there for the whole thing, but I did get to see some additional renderings and an animation.

The new construction portion of this project extends out to the corner of Main & Vickery, and is mostly 3 stories but has a portion that is 4 stories tall.  I didn't see/hear all of the retailers that will be involved, but one was a new concept from the Taco Heads folks and one was a men's clothier/provisions company.  

It also looks like there will be a walkway leading from the sidewalk along main street that connects to an outdoor seating area that runs the length of the block in the alley and includes a play area for kids.  

I didn't hear or see a definitive timeline, but it sounded like work is going to start very soon.

Piggybacking off of Austin55's find in the "Adding More Hotels Downtown" thread, I looked at TAD and confirmed that the empty plot of land at 1300 W. 7th (between the old Packard dealer and Whitley Penn building) is owned by "WEST 7TH HOSPITALITY LLC" 

The same entity also owns the empty lot behind it at 1208 W. 5th Street.

The name of an individual associated with this group is the same as the name of an individual affiliated with Whitestone Hospitality, which owns about a dozen hotels around the Metroplex - including the new Hilton Garden Inn that is about to be built adjacent to the Mount Gilead Baptist Church on the eastern side of downtown.

So...that spot is my guess for this project.

I'm pretty sure I've been to museums where other buildings were visible.

Does it look like this by chance?

 

Drove by again today, and slowed down to look.  The image on the sign on site looks like the building in the background of the image you posted, but without the one in the foreground.

I heard a rumor that the financial issues with LaGrave Field may be headed toward a resolution, and that another new Cats franchise may be in the works.  

I believe Origin and Community Trust are related, but not sure. 

Community Trust rebranded as Origin Bank in Fall 2015.

In today's "Eats Beats" column from Bud Kennedy, Enchiladas Ole is discussed as moving from their current location on Sylvania to "a new retail complex yet to be announced south of Airport Freeway" while planning a second location, in Saginaw, to open this February.

This differs slightly from the print version, which doesn't mention the move but does mention a 'third' location in the same "new retail complex yet to be announced south of Airport Freeway," but with the additional descriptor of "near the new Top Golf"

Here is the petition in support of the hotel: LINK

A RaceTrac representative met with the Ridglea Hills Neighborhood Association last night.  Here are some bullet points from their presentation:

• They met with Camp Bowie Inc.

• Came in with a conventional plan with pumps on Camp Bowie, but then modified those plans to look more inviting by
-Having an enclosed patio facing Camp Bowie with roll-up glass garage doors
-The 8 dispensers (16 fueling stations) will face the interior
• He emphasized that there will be nice architecture and that they have fresh food and great coffee (the coffee is available 24/7 to uniformed police officers)
• The store will be open 24/7 and sell beer and wine. It will be well-lit, but won’t interfere with the neighborhood
• Signage will be a monument sign
• They are under contract now and look to build starting the 3rd quarter of 2017
• There will be a wide sidewalk, trees, shrubs and a pedestrian friendly area

Here's a link to the meeting's minutes, which also included a QT rep discussing their proposed project at Camp Bowie & Westridge

There is a construction fence up around the gas station, and what I thought were demolition crews working on it.

Then this afternoon, I heard a rumor that it is being converted into a RaceTrac, and that the bigger building is being looked at by German grocery chain Lidl as part of their planned US expansion.