540 replies to this topic

[Jimmy]

FWBP has an update on West Bend, Waterside and a few other Trademark projects:

 

Project Pipeline: Trademark moving forward with four area developments

 

A lot of good info in there, although some of it may be old news to some of you.  One aspect I hadn't seen is that one expected tenant at West Bend will be yet ANOTHER Dallas pizza place making the move to Fort Worth: Grimaldi's, which I always thought was overrated.

[Doohickie]

That will be great when some of those places fail and mom & pop local pizza places assume the high end pizza making equipment.

[Austin55]

When is Fort Worth going to pop up locally owned business that expand to Dallas?

[Doohickie]

Fuzzy's Tacos?

[JBB]

Calm down, put away your pitchforks, and extinguish your torches. The article has that wrong. Grimaldi's has locations in Dallas, but they originated in NY and their corporate headquarters is in Arizona.

[BlueMound]

I love Grimaldi's - great New York Style pizza.

[JBB]

Why does it matter if a restaurant from Dallas wants to open in town? They're investing in the city. That's great, right? Oh, I know, I know. Amon Carter said we're supposed brown bag it when we go to Dallas. I'm sure he meant that we're also not supposed to let their businesses and developers spend money over here either, right?

[Jimmy]

I've got no problem with Dallas restaurants opening in FW.  I was just noting that there have been a lot of Dallas pizza places hopping across into the 817 lately, and that I don't really care for this particular one.  If we could get a Louie's or an Eno's over here, I'd happily post about ANOTHER.

[cberen1]

Why does it matter if a restaurant from Dallas wants to open in town? They're investing in the city. That's great, right? Oh, I know, I know. Amon Carter said we're supposed brown bag it when we go to Dallas. I'm sure he meant that we're also not supposed to let their businesses and developers spend money over here either, right?

 

I think the comment really points at Fort Worth's lack of exportable business.  That's a knock on FW, not Dallas.  I love the employment and, many times, the food being in Tarrant County.  What I'd rather have staying in Tarrant County are the profits.

[John T Roberts]

Construction has started on the new building.

 

http://fwbusinesspre...sity-Drive.aspx

[John T Roberts]

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram confirms the Fresh Market lease and Grimaldi's Pizza.

 

http://www.star-tele...ore-headed.html

[renamerusk]

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram confirms the Fresh Market lease and Grimaldi's Pizza.

 

 

Three stores in coming to Dallas (White Rock Lake Area/Turtle Creek and Southlake).  How do they do it? Does Southlake P&Z certify market their town as Dallas or something?  I am so ready for Dallas to pull a Putin and just officially annex SL.

 

* Ms. Baker & S-T number of store locations in Texas doe not match the official number indicated on FM's web page.

[youngalum]

Just what we need is another pizza place from Dallas

[JBB]

They're not from Dallas.

[mmiller2002]

Just what we need is another pizza place from Dallas

 

Don't be a hater.  We do need more bank branch buildings, though...

[BlueMound]

Grimaldi's has excellent NY-style pizza.
Cane Rosso for neapolitan style and Grimaldi's for NY style are my two favorites.

[Jimmy]

Smashburger is vacating their space in this area, to be replaced by East Hampton Sandwich Company...which started in Dallas (or more accurately, University Park) in 2012 and opened a Plano location late last year.  This will be their third location.  I haven't eaten there, but I hear it's good (and pricey).

 

Here's the FWBP write up.

[JBB]

I've always liked Smashburger, but their prices are a little out of whack for what they serve and they sharply increased them after a year or so of being open. Not to mention the fact that FW has no shortage of burger joints.

[John T Roberts]

I think the Camp Bowie location of Smashburger is still open.

[johnfwd]

Bicycling by the other day, I noticed that construction on the West Bend additions is well underway.  The steel framework for the first four floors of one of the buildings has already been erected.  I don't have a good camera for photos.  When the site gets more filled out, could someone who takes excellent photos (Austin55 maybe?) get a shot or two.  Also noticed two cranes at the site, one small and the other large.

[Austin55]

  When the site gets more filled out, could someone who takes excellent photos (Austin55 maybe?) get a shot or two.

 

I have your summon! I'll get out this Sunday and try and get shots of a lof of stuff.

[John T Roberts]

When the project is finished, the project will be added to the main site (www.fortwortharchitecture.com).  John, I'm like you, I ride by there all of the time on bicycle, but I only have my cell phone camera with me.

[John T Roberts]

Here's a shot that I took today of the new building going up.  Fresh Market will open their first Fort Worth store on the ground floor.

[renamerusk]

When the project is finished, the project will be added to the main site (www.fortwortharchitecture.com).  John, I'm like you, I ride by there all of the time on bicycle, but I only have my cell phone camera with me.

 

Where in the main site of "fwa.com" will you add this part of town that is south of the Cultural District,  west of the riverand between TCU.  Will it be considered south or west?  Maybe it should be called "University District".

[John T Roberts]

That area was originally included in the Cultural District due to a smaller number of buildings listed.  There is a place holder for "River Plaza".  I just need to update the name to "West Bend".  My original area of the Cultural District was roughly everything east of Montgomery Street and a rough line north and south of the street down to each fork of the river.  Then the river formed the north, east, and south boundaries.

[Austin55]

Structure seemded fully in place as of this weekend.

[RD Milhollin]

The condos/apartments to the south look strangely out of place with what is going up. I suppose in a few years they will have reached their economic life-end and more mid-rise development will be built in their place.

[JBB]

That's a hotel, isn't it? Hawthorn Suites, if I remember correctly.

[John T Roberts]

Yes, that is a "hotel".  It was originally a Residence Inn by Marriott, but now it's been recently rebranded as a Hawthorn Suites.

[Austin55]

No, the hotel is to the north, this shot is looking south and a bit east. Both the apartments and hotel are looking past their prime, as well as several of the office buildings along merrimac circle. There

s a big dirt lot in there to on google, can't remember what it is now. 

Would like some more riverfront development.

 

Edit-  Well maybe that is a hotel to, but theres a hotel to the north as well. I'm not really sure. There's a Stay America to the north.

[Jeriat]

I think that IS a hotel...

 

Either way, I don't see that form staying for more than another decade.

[JBB]

The large dirt lot is a gas well pad. The northernmost office building on Merrimac Cir. is boarded up and has been for awhile. I believe the office buildings closest to the food truck park are still in use.

[John T Roberts]

There are two hotels adjacent to the office building, parking garage, and new construction.  One to the north and one to the south.  Hawthorn Suites sits in the area with University on the west and the Trinity River on the south and east sides.  It's at the very apex of the triangle.

[Doohickie]

Yes, that's a hotel.  JBB and John are correct.  We "lived" there for a month when we moved back to Ft Worth in 1997.

[McHand]

I think that IS a hotel...

 

Either way, I don't see that form staying for more than another decade.

 

You may be right.  It's been in that form for at least 30 years.

[JBB]

A view of the new construction from across the river (from last week).

[John T Roberts]

That's actually not a bad view of the project.  I'm down there all of the time on bicycle, but without a camera.

[JBB]

I know the building isn't complete yet, but it sure is starting to look like, other than the corner adjacent to River Plaza, the first floor is going to be a big, blank, windowless wall facing the trail and the river. I'm not sure what I expected, but that seems like a huge missed opportunity.

[Urbndwlr]

i think what you are seeing are temporary enclosures that will be replaced by windows.  Their plan called/calls for restaurants fronting the river trails.

[JBB]

I hope I'm wrong, but the longer it goes, the more I think I'm not. You can see in the above shot from across the river that they framed out the windows on the upper floors. I'm almost certain they didn't do that on the ground floor.

[Austin55]

Here's the windows in question. It does look odd, not really sure whats up with that, perhaps someone with more construction knowledge can explain.

 

 

Here's the front view.

[John T Roberts]

Austin, you should have been walking on the Trinity Trails on the opposite side of the river to get a detailed look at what is happening to the building.  I will admit that I haven't been on the trails east of University since they have started putting the wall up on the new building.  From your photograph, it looks like they are installing some kind of siding on the lower part of the facade.  The siding stops at the large light gray panels.  These still don't look like real openings. 

[dfwerdoc]

love the fenestrations ... this will be a special building 

[Austin55]

 

This doesn't show much, but it looks like the new hi-rise wont have windows in the back. The Fresh Market would make up that back wall. The good news is it looks like the corner of the it, the bottom of the main existing hi-rise, and the garage will all have retail slots. 

[John T Roberts]

I finally was on the trail east of University Drive.  It appears that the rendering is very accurate and that those gray portions of the lower floor are stucco panels that will be used for graphics.  The two openings on the right are the only ones for windows. 

[360texas]

I see the artist architectural rendering.  I read your  comment above.

 

Please provide  a reference point from which to locate your  points:

 

"It appears that the rendering is very accurate and that those gray portions of the lower floor are stucco panels that will be used for graphics.  The two openings on the right are the only ones for windows"

 

Lets try this again please so we understand the areas you are talking about.

 

Far left building look like white canvas window graphics.  

 

Center building looks like clear glass windows with canvas text (can not read) graphics above.

 

Far right building looks like green canvas graphics "Pub..something" outside shows gray canvas umbrellas.

 

White pipe fence line 

Asphalt walk way line

grass area line

river edge line

 

Hope you can help us understand the accuracy of the illustration.

[John T Roberts]

360Texas, it is the far left building that I am referring with my comments.  I agree with you in that the rendering depicts what appears to be white canvas.  However, if you look at Austin55's first photograph of the same building, it is clear that those are not windows.  What I meant by the rendering was accurate is that the areas of graphics are blank walls on the left building and the two windows on the north end of the building are indicated as windows with awnings.  I'm sorry for the confusion.  How they produce those graphics in this case, I don't know.  Those will probably be the last to be installed.

[renamerusk]

RE: Rendering, Post#144

 

It is a shame that garages have to be so unsightly.

[John T Roberts]

This garage is finished, except for the ground floor retail.  It's not my favorite garage, but some people have commented to me that they actually like the look of it.

[JBB]

I think it will look a lot better if they finish the ground level retail. It does have a different look from most garages around here. It's more of a bare bones look with less pre fab concrete.