88 replies to this topic

[Jimmy]

Driving west on Camp Bowie this morning, I noticed two things I hadn't seen before:

 

1) The Cheers Liquor Store on the northeast corner of Camp Bowie and Hulen appears to be out of business.  Front door was shuttered (could be wrong, here, and maybe that's just the way it looks at 8:30am), and there was a big "available" sign out front with some real estate dude's contact info.  I've always thought this was one of the ugliest buildings in Fort Worth, so I'd love to see someone tear it down and build something in its place.

 

2) There is a two-story building, directly across the street from Kincaid's/Showdown, that has been completely gutted and has one of those construction fences all around it.

 

 

 

 

[Austin55]

4916 Camp Bowie? Interesting looking building. Hope it sticks around.

[Jimmy]

That's the one.  

[mmiller2002]

The cheers never really started.  When it was open, it was half empty.  I've seen another one the same way.  I don't understand why the owner didn't even really seem to try...

 

The two story building used to house a video rental plane when it was built or remodeled in the 80's.  It never really took off with many tenants.  It had a large second story balcony.

[Jimmy]

The cheers never really started.  When it was open, it was half empty.  I've seen another one the same way.  I don't understand why the owner didn't even really seem to try...

 

 

I noticed the same thing when I stopped in to their store on Alta Mere.  A lot of empty shelf space, and less than a dozen beers from which to choose.

[BlueMound]

That Cheers location used to be a strip joint in the 70s. Its hard to believe but true.

[John T Roberts]

I remember when it was a strip joint.

[RenaissanceMan]

I remember when it was a strip joint.

Go on...

[Austin55]

 

I think this may be the design for 3800 Camp Bowie.

[RD Milhollin]

Hmmm, looks very "prefab" to me.

[360texas]

EFIS kind of looks like that too.

 

OR precast element panels.

[Jimmy]

two-story building, directly across the street from Kincaid's/Showdown, that has been completely gutted and has one of those construction fences all around it.

 

 

 

 

 

Was by the area recently.  New office for Kelly Capital Partners.  Here's a link to a photo of the finished project from their Facebook page.  

[JBB]

That's an interesting improvement over what it used to look like. Not as busy looking. Cleaner and more modern.

[mmiller2002]

 In response to Austin55's picture, that's hard to picture at that location.  It looks like a barn...

 

(for some reason my "quote" did not quote the post)

[Jimmy]

 

1) The Cheers Liquor Store on the northeast corner of Camp Bowie and Hulen appears to be out of business.  Front door was shuttered (could be wrong, here, and maybe that's just the way it looks at 8:30am), and there was a big "available" sign out front with some real estate dude's contact info.  I've always thought this was one of the ugliest buildings in Fort Worth, so I'd love to see someone tear it down and build something in its place.

 

 

 

I drove past this location earlier this afternoon.  There was a door open with workers inside.  Looked like the place was being gutted.

[Thurman52]

Mini "ER" us taking that spot

[Austin55]

At 5001 Camp Bowie there is a sign up for a 2 story building on a V shaped lot, which says retail/office. I believe the sign has been there a while (Admittedly I don't go around that area much) but they have applied to build the building without providing any off street parking. We'll have to see if those plans get approved. It's a small lot, wouldnt be much room for parking anyway. 

[Jimmy]

Yeah, that sign has been there a while.  I've always wondered what they'd do about parking, because that lot is very small.  

[Doohickie]

At 4731 Camp Bowie (a bit west of Hulen), Craftwork Coffee Shop opened.  They have a smallish shop, plus several meeting rooms were business people can privately meet with clients.  Neat concept.  They serve Stir Crazy baked goods.

 

Sorry..... I forgot to take a picture before we started eating/drinking

 

[rriojas71]

At 4731 Camp Bowie (a bit west of Hulen), Craftwork Coffee Shop opened.  They have a smallish shop, plus several meeting rooms were business people can privately meet with clients.  Neat concept.  They serve Stir Crazy baked goods.
 
Sorry..... I forgot to take a picture before we started eating/drinking
 

Yeah I went there about a month back and I really liked the place and the coffee. I wish Camp Bowie along this section was re-imagined and made in to a truly urban village with more coffee shops and places to eat, drink & shop. IMO there are a lot of buildings that could be re-developed or reimagined, but currently it feels like the area is completely underutilized.

[Doohickie]

Yeah I went there about a month back and I really liked the place and the coffee. I wish Camp Bowie along this section was re-imagined and made in to a truly urban village with more coffee shops and places to eat, drink & shop. IMO there are a lot of buildings that could be re-developed or reimagined, but currently it feels like the area is completely underutilized.

It's got to start somewhere.  If Craftwork succeeds, others will follow.

[Urbndwlr]

You ought to share your views with Camp Bowie District Inc.  I recall that several years back when the Walgreens was built, it was a designated Urban Village.

Therefore, the Wallgreens was supposed to be built right up to the intersection, with a pedestrian-friendly design, and parking placed behind it to the south, off Camp Bowie. 

 

I believe Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association viewed the Urban Village designs with great skepticism and got it unwound, returned to suburban-style parking-in-front development style.  I still have no idea why anyone thought that was a better idea, however we now have a suburban style Wallgreens at Hulen and Camp Bowie.  Not too many other opportunities to build new along there.  Hopefully by today the philosophies have evolved to promote more pedestrian friendly design along that corridor and in that zone, should a new proposal come along.  

[Jimmy]

Driving west on Camp Bowie this morning, I noticed two things I hadn't seen before:

 

1) The Cheers Liquor Store on the northeast corner of Camp Bowie and Hulen appears to be out of business.  Front door was shuttered (could be wrong, here, and maybe that's just the way it looks at 8:30am), and there was a big "available" sign out front with some real estate dude's contact info.  I've always thought this was one of the ugliest buildings in Fort Worth, so I'd love to see someone tear it down and build something in its place.

 

 

 

Mini "ER" us taking that spot

 

The "ER" that opened there was a Lumin ER, but their signage has now been covered and the company's website no longer lists a location at that site (or anywhere in FW).

[Austin55]

At 5001 Camp Bowie there is a sign up for a 2 story building on a V shaped lot, which says retail/office. I believe the sign has been there a while (Admittedly I don't go around that area much) but they have applied to build the building without providing any off street parking. We'll have to see if those plans get approved. It's a small lot, wouldnt be much room for parking anyway. 

This is still an ongoing debate.

http://www.fortworth...d718676892.html

Arlington Heights NIMBYs are after it pretty hard it sounds like.

[tamtagon]

Is that Jackalope still around?

[JBB]

I don't drive out there often, but as far as I know, it's still on the roof of an auto leasing office just west of Bryant Irvin.  My late uncle worked at the Jackalope Shop for several years before it closed.

[tamtagon]

...connections to the Jackalope, I went to college with the daughter of (one of?) the owner!

[Austin55]

 

At 5001 Camp Bowie there is a sign up for a 2 story building on a V shaped lot, which says retail/office. I believe the sign has been there a while (Admittedly I don't go around that area much) but they have applied to build the building without providing any off street parking. We'll have to see if those plans get approved. It's a small lot, wouldnt be much room for parking anyway. 

This is still an ongoing debate.

http://www.fortworth...d718676892.html

Arlington Heights NIMBYs are after it pretty hard it sounds like.

 

 

After a long battle this was denied due to parking concerns.

 

http://www.fortworth...6c846d45f3.html

 

Sal Espino qoute,

 

 

 

"Overall, I'm troubled by the aversion in our city by some folks to mixed use zoning,"

[JBB]

Well, at least he's off the council now.

[Doohickie]

At 4731 Camp Bowie (a bit west of Hulen), Craftwork Coffee Shop opened.  They have a smallish shop, plus several meeting rooms were business people can privately meet with clients.  Neat concept.  They serve Stir Crazy baked goods.

 

I went to Craftwork on Camp Bowie recently and was disappointed by all the people doing business there.  I realize that's part of their model, but the disappointment stemmed from the fact that most of the people doing business were in the front part of the store and apparently weren't shelling out the bucks to using the rooms in the back devoted to business.  Those rooms were empty while the front of the store was very crowded; I ended up having to eat outside (and listen to one woman talk to another about her failing marriage.... awkward). 

 

I don't see going back again if it's crowded like that.   It's just weird having that many people conducting business meetings all crowded together but not willing to pay the fee to spread out in the actual business facilities.

 

On a related note, I noticed another Craftwork location opened on Magnolia and Henderson across from Cartan's Shoes and in the same building with Heim BBQ.

[youngalum]

Craftwork has single handling tried to run all the other business at the Camp Bowie location with their parking issues.  They seem to think all the parking is for them and none for the other business before them.  They went around putting threatening notes on people cars, even those parked in front of The Original.  All the other tenants had to have a come to Jesus meeting with them and set them straight.  They are still occasionally doing this behavior and still get called on it. 

 

At least Corrie, who owns the building on Magnolia and will not tolerate such foolishness.

[Doohickie]

Yeah, I like the concept, but something in their execution turns me off.

[Austin55]

4217 Camp Bowie (SE corner at Hillcrest, just South of the Methodist Church) will soon be home to a 3 story mixed use building, with office on 1 and 2 and a residence on 3rd. Schwarz Hanson are the architects. No rendering at this time, but I do know the building itself will lie along the street with parking in rear.

 

The building faced heavy opposition in the zoning commission form nearby residents (as Arlington Heights seems to do), 8 residents spoke in opposition and several more sent letters, but it was approved. You can read the comments and see a siteplan by searching ZC-17-175 on google and downloading the PDF.

[Austin55]

The NE corner of Camp Bowie and Dorothy has a 11 unit townhome proposed on it. 

[txbornviking]

I also noticed the SPUR bendy-buses being used on Route 2 along Camp Bowie this morning as well.

 

As Route 2 is one of the more heavily used Trinity Metro routes, this was nice to see.

[rriojas71]

So one of the things I’m perplexed with is why there is not more restaurants / cafes and trendy shops along Camp Bowie from Hulen to Merrick. It seems like a missed opportunity for another Urban Village

[txbornviking]

So one of the things I’m perplexed with is why there is not more restaurants / cafes and trendy shops along Camp Bowie from Hulen to Merrick. It seems like a missed opportunity for another Urban Village

The Hulen/Camp Bowie interesection at one point was labeled as a potential Urban Village but I'm fairly certain the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association fought making it a priority.

http://fortworthtexa... Camp Bowie.pdf

 

 

Sadly the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association is well known for raising a stink at most new businesses proposed along Camp Bowie between Merrick & Montgomery. They claim to be business friendly and claim to like the historic nature of the businesses but will consistently raise concerns about parking, traffic, or "fit."

 

Just in the past couple of years I've seen a few proposed new businesses instead pack up and set up shop elsewhere...

[Austin55]

The NE corner of Camp Bowie and Dorothy has a 11 unit townhome proposed on it. 

 

Passed Zoning Commission. Here's a render

 

[txbornviking]

 

The NE corner of Camp Bowie and Dorothy has a 11 unit townhome proposed on it. 

 

Passed Zoning Commission. Here's a render

 

 

 

Is this the "recently" cleared lot next to Ginger Man?

[M2guy]

Gingerman is closing on October 21st per their Facebook

[Austin55]

A drive through tea store is proposed at Edgehill and Camp Bowie.

 

https://www.hteao.com/

[renamerusk]

See, Fort Worth really is apart of West Texas.

 

Edgehill @ Camp Bowie is an interesting choice.  I suppose anything along Camp Bowie from there to Downtown has become very pricey.  Oh yeah, those tea flavors sound crazy good.  Lucky school kids.

[Urbndwlr]

 

So one of the things I’m perplexed with is why there is not more restaurants / cafes and trendy shops along Camp Bowie from Hulen to Merrick. It seems like a missed opportunity for another Urban Village

The Hulen/Camp Bowie interesection at one point was labeled as a potential Urban Village but I'm fairly certain the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association fought making it a priority.

http://fortworthtexa... Camp Bowie.pdf

 

 

Sadly the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association is well known for raising a stink at most new businesses proposed along Camp Bowie between Merrick & Montgomery. They claim to be business friendly and claim to like the historic nature of the businesses but will consistently raise concerns about parking, traffic, or "fit."

 

Just in the past couple of years I've seen a few proposed new businesses instead pack up and set up shop elsewhere...

 

I have serious concerns about the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association's leadership.  I think they are at best supremely naive and completely uninformed about best practices in urban design, land use, and urban development.  At worst, they are deliberate obstructionists, out to stick it to any developer because of some deep distrust of people who builds buildings other than homes for themselves.   

 

The reason this matters to all of us, is that the AHNA is single-handedly damaging Camp Bowie Boulevard, based on my observations.  The boulevard could be one of Fort Worth's most vibrant, interesting streets, but the AHNA fights any request that aims to make progress toward those ends.  They have fought relief of heavy parking minimums, integration of residential above commercial, and even two-story structures.  Since parking minimums are based on suburban context they are often waived in older parts of the city, or else many restaurants would be impossible.  Camp Bowie, with its irregular lot sizes, has very few places to provide heavy on-site parking (without demolition of old buildings) required for even small restaurants.  My understanding is that the AHNA leadership is aware of this and has stated they do not want new restaurants on the Camp Bowie bricks and don't care if some land remains unused or severely underused rather than built upon with small, urban structures like on Magnolia, for example.

 

Unfortunately, Dennis Shingleton seems completely unwilling to show leadership and a little bravery to stand up to them to differentiate between legitimate criticism from manufactured concerns about how small office buildings will somehow hurt their single family neighbors.   

 

I was delighted when I read that the small hotel received approval, over the predictable objections of the AHNA leaders.  Even the most modest scale, well-designed small project will meet their challenge.  Only a super well connected, social network-savvy developer (who lives in AH) could overcome the AHNA's opposition. 

[JBB]

I couldn't agree more, but I would take it one step farther.  I believe that part of the problem is that there are a number of people that live in these neighborhoods inside the loop, particularly those west of I-35, that would tell you that they don't live in an urban area and that urban development doesn't belong in or around their neighborhoods.  I feel like it's a combination of believing in the misguided idea that "urban" leads to density, crime, and diversity.  I know I'm generalizing and painting with a pretty broad brush and I know that most people in these neighborhoods don't feel this way.  But in my experience, HOA, neighborhood associations, and to a lesser degree citizen boards and commissions attract ill-informed leaders that are in it for the power and control and not for the good of the neighborhood or the city.  And I don't think it is generalizing to think that those people are in the urban=bad camp.

[renamerusk]

So one of the things I’m perplexed with is why there is not more restaurants / cafes and trendy shops along Camp Bowie from Hulen to Merrick. It seems like a missed opportunity for another Urban Village

 

I have serious concerns about the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association's leadership..... the AHNA is single-handedly damaging Camp Bowie Boulevard, based on my observations.  The boulevard could be one of Fort Worth's most vibrant, interesting streets, but the AHNA fights any request that aims to make progress toward those ends..... My understanding is that the AHNA leadership is aware of this and has stated they do not want new restaurants on the Camp Bowie bricks and don't care if some land remains unused or severely underused rather than built upon with small, urban structures like on Magnolia, for example.... I read that the small hotel received approval, over the predictable objections of the AHNA leaders.  Even the most modest scale, well-designed small project will meet their challenge....

 

 Camp Bowie @ Hulen is painfully lacking of upscale development.  Ordinarily, one might expect that this intersection would be bustling with shops,offices and restaurants.  Camp Bowie could easily be like some sections of Lower Greenville Avenue where development and homes comparable to Arlington Heights (M-Street) coexists without acrimony. Instead it is comatose.

 

Can this be partly explained by influence of the AHNA?

[Urbndwlr]

My understanding is that yes, in some ways the AHNA has caused the Hulen/Camp Bowie intersection to be more suburban in style (and therefore lifeless).  

 

The story as I recall hearing it is as follows:

 

The City (and perhaps Camp Bowie District Inc) worked to originally designate the area around Hulen and Camp Bowie as one of the Fort Worth's Urban Villages.  That meant mixed use (MU) zoning, and if any new buildings were to be constructed, those would have to be built close to the streets, with more traditional, pedestrian-friendly design and the parking would have to be screened and located behind the buildings. 

I understand the AHNA fought the designation and ultimately Hulen & Camp Bowie was removed from the Urban Village program. 

One result (if i have historical timing correct) is the Walgreens that was built.  It would have been required to be built up at the corner, with doors facing the streets, parking located behind.  Instead, the result was a conventional suburban-style building with a parking lot on the corner, rather than a building. 

I don't know for sure if the AHNA directly lobbied for that site plan but my understanding is it is a result of their general opposition to anything "urban" in any way.  I dont know the individuals who led it so I can't speak to their actual concerns but I do wonder why in the world they would have argued AGAINST the traditional design principals embodied in the Urban Village program and Mixed Use zoning. 

It is such a sad missed opportunity to correct that corner (it used to have a grocery store with an even larger parking lot) - and bring a building to the corner, making it feel and act so much friendlier to pedestrians, even if most people arrive to Walgreens by car.

 

Surely someone else on the forum has a better grasp of how that went but wanted to share the version I have heard from multiple people who were closer to the matter many years ago. 

[rriojas71]

4217 Camp Bowie (SE corner at Hillcrest, just South of the Methodist Church) will soon be home to a 3 story mixed use building, with office on 1 and 2 and a residence on 3rd. Schwarz Hanson are the architects. No rendering at this time, but I do know the building itself will lie along the street with parking in rear.

 

The building faced heavy opposition in the zoning commission form nearby residents (as Arlington Heights seems to do), 8 residents spoke in opposition and several more sent letters, but it was approved. You can read the comments and see a siteplan by searching ZC-17-175 on google and downloading the PDF.

I drove by this site and a lot of dirt is moving.  They do have a rendering of the building which is being built by Eagle Mountain Enterprises - Commercial Contractor.  It is a nice building and I think it will compliment that area of Camp Bowie near Clover Lane very nicely.

[Austin55]

Demolition permits have been filed for 3719 Camp Bowie and 3712 Watonga. Both are owned by "Zorro Capital LLC". This is next too the old Steinway Hall.

[george84]

Interesting. And this is right across the street from the upcoming townhouses and the unknown development that will be going where Gingerman is. 

[renamerusk]

 

4217 Camp Bowie (SE corner at Hillcrest, just South of the Methodist Church) will soon be home to a 3 story mixed use building, with office on 1 and 2 and a residence on 3rd. Schwarz Hanson are the architects. No rendering at this time, but I do know the building itself will lie along the street with parking in rear.

 

The building faced heavy opposition in the zoning commission form nearby residents (as Arlington Heights seems to do), 8 residents spoke in opposition and several more sent letters, but it was approved. You can read the comments and see a siteplan by searching ZC-17-175 on google and downloading the PDF.

I drove by this site and a lot of dirt is moving.  They do have a rendering of the building which is being built by Eagle Mountain Enterprises - Commercial Contractor.  It is a nice building and I think it will compliment that area of Camp Bowie near Clover Lane very nicely.

 

  Renderings..on site for viewing?