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Frank Kent Cadillac owners and a new development on Magnolia

Fairmount Near Southside Fort Worth South

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#1 DKinFW

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Posted 27 September 2013 - 10:06 AM

The Star Telegram earlier this week reported that the owners of Frank Kent Cadillac have bought "an 8,000-square-foot property at Magnolia Avenue and Adams Street" for an "innovative concept" that they got from their extensive travels.  It will blend their “their love of automobiles, fine wine and customer service".  Sounds interesting.  Anyone have any rumors or gossip on this?  Which property are they referring to? 

 



#2 RD Milhollin

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Posted 27 September 2013 - 10:52 AM

Sounds cool… stay tuned!



#3 Doohickie

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Posted 28 September 2013 - 05:12 PM

Sounds too rich for my blood.


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#4 Jeriat

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Posted 28 September 2013 - 07:44 PM

Sounds too rich for my blood.

 

We'll see...


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#5 John T Roberts

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Posted 28 September 2013 - 08:22 PM

It will be interesting to see what they do with the project.



#6 David Love

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Posted 29 September 2013 - 07:00 PM

Note to self: Those guys are making waaaay too much money selling cars.


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#7 BedfordLawyer

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Posted 01 October 2013 - 03:36 PM

Probably some sort of gaudy wine-centric location to continue to cash in on the wine sales at the dealership.


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#8 Volare

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Posted 01 October 2013 - 10:05 PM

There is already one new wine place going into Magnolia- Grand Cru.

 

Curious.



#9 youngalum

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Posted 02 October 2013 - 10:28 AM

Will Churchill has already owned a wine place before the opening of the dealership one.  It was next door to La Madeleine's and Fort Worth Cooking School. 



#10 mmiller2002

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Posted 02 October 2013 - 11:13 AM

... to continue to cash in on the wine sales at the dealership.

 

You say that like its a bad thing...



#11 Doohickie

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Posted 02 October 2013 - 01:27 PM

They sell wine at the dealership?


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#12 mmiller2002

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Posted 03 October 2013 - 10:13 PM

I think I remember that that the new-ish Acura dealership outside of 820 west had a cafe with the former chef from Cafe Aspen.



#13 beverlyb

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Posted 04 October 2013 - 07:11 PM

The Frank Kent Honda on west 820 has a cafe. It's actually pretty good. But back on topic, I have the question someone else asked, they're going to sell wine at the dealership?

Have a few drinks and buy a car. I must be missing something.



#14 youngalum

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Posted 07 October 2013 - 11:46 AM

It is going to be their mid-city drop off point for the service of vehicles they sell.  The customer can get a loaner and buy a bottle of wine. 



#15 Fort Worthology

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Posted 18 October 2013 - 06:35 PM

It is going to be their mid-city drop off point for the service of vehicles they sell.  The customer can get a loaner and buy a bottle of wine. 

 

Please tell me that's not serious.


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#16 mmiller2002

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Posted 18 October 2013 - 10:15 PM

It is going to be their mid-city drop off point for the service of vehicles they sell.  The customer can get a loaner and buy a bottle of wine. 

 

OK, what's your source?

 

I don't think it can be judged based on such limited information.



#17 youngalum

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Posted 28 October 2013 - 02:27 PM

 

It is going to be their mid-city drop off point for the service of vehicles they sell.  The customer can get a loaner and buy a bottle of wine. 

 

Please tell me that's not serious.

 

 

 

 

It is going to be their mid-city drop off point for the service of vehicles they sell.  The customer can get a loaner and buy a bottle of wine. 

 

OK, what's your source?

 

I don't think it can be judged based on such limited information.

 

From the horses's mouth--ownership



#18 mmiller2002

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Posted 28 October 2013 - 04:21 PM

Gotcha, thanks.

 

Hey, nothing wrong with that. They don't have to drink it on the spot!  No harm done.



#19 Austin55

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Posted 28 October 2013 - 05:52 PM

I predict a hipster fit.

#20 mmiller2002

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Posted 28 October 2013 - 09:51 PM

What do you mean, they can drop off their Cadillac hybrids for service...



#21 Jeriat

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Posted 29 October 2013 - 10:44 PM

I predict a hipster fit.

 

Perfect area for it. 


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#22 youngalum

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Posted 30 October 2013 - 10:50 AM

What do you mean, they can drop off their Cadillac hybrids for service...

Drop them off to be sent to West Fort Worth for repairs and returned once done--this is only going to Cadillac only.



#23 mmiller2002

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Posted 30 October 2013 - 11:44 AM

 

What do you mean, they can drop off their Cadillac hybrids for service...

Drop them off to be sent to West Fort Worth for repairs and returned once done--this is only going to Cadillac only.

 

 

That was tongue-in-cheek.  Hipsters wouldn't own a Cadillac ;-)  (at least not one built after ~1975)

 

Hipster stereotype cars --> Fiat 500, Prius, Smart, etc.



#24 Fort Worthology

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 02:01 PM

Such a weird location for a car-centric business.  Can't say I'm super thrilled about this place.


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#25 RenaissanceMan

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 02:11 PM

Seems like a concept hatched in "downtown" Arlington.



#26 Austin55

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 02:37 PM

It's honestly difficult to drive down Magnolia. I really struggle to see how anyone thought this was a good idea.

I also don't like how "uppity" it seems. Magnolia should be a place for community not a place for financial segregation.

#27 Binx

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 08:18 PM

Difficult to drive down Magnolia?



#28 Volare

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 11:06 PM

Difficult to drive down Magnolia?

 

Say what??



#29 Austin55

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Posted 31 October 2013 - 11:17 PM

It was a reply to me. I say it's hard to drive down Magnolia because of how oriented it is towards no vehicular traffic. Going faster than 20 or so makes me uncomfortable. Maybe not "difficult", but unpleasant to say the least.  And that's how it should be. 



#30 mmiller2002

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Posted 01 November 2013 - 11:20 AM

..I also don't like how "uppity" it seems. Magnolia should be a place for community not a place for financial segregation.

 

That comes across as a bit judgemental before you even see it in action ;-)

 

Segregation of what?

 

I mean, Ellerbee's and Lily's aren't exactly inexpensive...



#31 JBB

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Posted 01 November 2013 - 02:17 PM

Even if it were a place where you could drop off your Kia for service and buy a bottle of Dasani water, that's still going to be outside of someone's financial capability.  Is that still "financial segregation"?



#32 gdvanc

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Posted 03 November 2013 - 11:38 PM

This month's Fort Worth, Texas magazine has their "2013 Wine Lover's Guide". On page 69, there's a brief blurb about Cadillac Wines (http://www.cadillacwines.com) inside the Frank Kent Cadillac dealership on W. Loop 820. I think others have alluded to that but I had never heard of it. I assume this location is an extension of that.



#33 RD Milhollin

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Posted 04 January 2014 - 12:57 PM

Here is an announcement in the S-T about the wine bar Churchill and Watson of Frank Kent Co. are opening on Magnolia:

 

http://www.star-tele...n-wine-bar.html

 

Terming the existing building as "nondescript" is tag-on; I am sure the new owners' plans will include a significant face lift for the exterior. The little grassy area to the east will be roofed-over for a patio seating area, and a valet desk (appropriately enough for Cadillac dealers) built on the west side where a parking lot already exists. This new development will surely represent a significant contribution to the social attractiveness and overall street-scape for this section of West Magnolia. 

 

The article mentions that the address (1101 W, Magnolia) is on the northeast side of Magnolia and Adams Street, but from the map it appears to be on the southeast corner, an easy enough mistake to make (and one I was recently guilty of twice running on this forum). 



#34 RD Milhollin

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Posted 16 January 2014 - 08:41 PM

Brief article on the Kent development on Magnolia, including the drop-off facility for car service (the "Valet Desk" mentioned previously and somewhat ambiguously…)

 

http://www.star-tele...or-service.html

 

includes a new illustration.



#35 Fort Worthology

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Posted 17 January 2014 - 09:30 AM

Because what better place for a car service drop-off + expensive wine shop than the city's most walkable alt-transportation-embracing urban main street?  Looking forward to the inevitable blocking of the sidewalk for people waiting on the valet drop-off.


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#36 ramjet

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Posted 17 January 2014 - 01:45 PM

I think they're on to something.  On my last car purchase, I actually did not buy a certain kind of car because the only dealership in area for the brand of car I was interested in was over 25 miles away in heavy traffic.  The trek for service would have brought tears to a glass eye.  I wonder who their geographic customer base is now?  I would guess the western part of Tarrant County and far flung West Texas.  Perhaps they are trying to get more customers in the core of Fort Worth and eastern Tarrant County.  I'm also diggin' their entrepreneurial spirit.  Plus, Caddies are looking pretty good these days I think:

 

http://www.nytimes.c...utomobiles&_r=0

 

The Frank Kent Cadillac dealership was downtown when I was young.  I think it blew up or something tragic happened to the building.  It was across South Main from the Haynes Memorial.  Now looks like a Roman forum-like ruin.



#37 dfwerdoc

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Posted 17 January 2014 - 03:58 PM

their liability carrier should be unnerved by them plying little old ladies in their cadillacs with a glass of wine or two 



#38 Austin55

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Posted 18 January 2014 - 12:36 AM

Sounds more and more like the whole car-dropping off thing is not the primary function of the business at all, it's main goal is to be a wine bar. Good. 

I also think it look great. Nice reuse of the existing building.

 



#39 renamerusk

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Posted 19 January 2014 - 03:19 PM

Because what better place for a car service drop-off + expensive wine shop than the city's most walkable alt-transportation-embracing urban main street?  Looking forward to the inevitable blocking of the sidewalk for people waiting on the valet drop-off.

 

I have taken a quick look at the site by way of google and do not see an unresolvable traffic vs. pedestrian flow issue.  It seems that vehicular traffic "in and out" at the site can be easily managed by a simple application of  traffic engineering that uses Magnolia and Adams streets respectively.

 

If I have a concern about this project, it has been expressed primarily by others regarding the wisdom of  mixing alchol consumption with driving.  And even though there is this concern by me, this is a permanent "brick and mortar" store that will bring clients perhaps for the first time into the immediate area who will then also tend to shop  and support the other brick and mortar stores along Magnolia Corridor.



#40 Zetna

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 08:34 AM

We live a block away from this building....I think the concept is interesting and the rendering is great....I was hoping the cars they'd show off were some antique Cadillacs just for show...but that's just me. The biggest concern for Adams St. closest to Magnolia ( this goes for other streets close to Magnolia w/ new venues) is parking. The new Frank Kent plan shows seating for about 80 w/ only 7 off street parking spaces. There is a parking garage on Alston, a few blocks away, that no one seems to use. Parking starts backing up into the residential streets. A lot of us closest to Magnolia love the new development, but are afraid the part of the Fairmount neighborhood closest to Magnolia will end up like lower Greenville in Dallas.



#41 cberen1

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 10:25 AM

If I have a concern about this project, it has been expressed primarily by others regarding the wisdom of the mixing alchol consumption with driving. 

 

I think effectively all purveyors of spirits base their business on a "drink responsibly then drive home" model.  One could argue the % of consumption around Magnolia that's pedestian based may be higher, but I don't think that area could make it on just the foot traffic.

 

People drive to liquor stores.  They drive to wine bars.  They drive to restaurants.  They drive everywhere.  I don't see how this is even remotely different from every other alcohol serving establishment in Texas.



#42 John T Roberts

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 10:53 AM

Zetna, maybe you, the Fairmount Neighborhood, Fort Worth South, and the businesses along Magnolia could work out an arrangement where the businesses promote parking in the garage on Alston as an alternative to parking on the residential streets.



#43 Zetna

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Posted 12 February 2014 - 11:51 AM

John, yes, I have heard rumors of homeowners having a tag they hang up on their rear view mirror like a disability tag when parked in front of their homes. If you don't have a tag then you could receive a ticket...sounds complicated and not sure that would work or even be legal. A shuttle seems ideal between the garage and businesses... we were hoping for the light rail idea to pass in the city several years ago as I believe part of the system was to be built on Magnolia. I've lived here since 2006 and have noted 24 new businesses on the street, not to mention the new high rise and other proposed businesses since then.



#44 mmmdan

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Posted 13 February 2014 - 08:19 AM

I'm pretty sure that there was a blurb on Cane Rosso in the paper recently and in that article they mentioned the ample parking in the garage just a couple blocks away.

 

I think it would help if there were a few more signs directing people to the free parking garage.  It is not well known that the garage even exists, let alone that it's free.  They even had to put up a sign at the garage in the middle of the midtown development.

 

With the fiasco surrounding the parking garages in West 7th, I imagine people are gun shy about some of the parking garages.



#45 Austin55

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Posted 19 March 2014 - 10:10 PM

JFFJnyW.jpg

 

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#46 Zetna

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 04:42 AM

Judging by all the work being done on this little concrete block structure I think it would have been easier to tear down and rebuild from scratch....unless there were some grandfathering rules / setbacks that would remain in place if the building remained as well.



#47 mmmdan

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Posted 20 March 2014 - 06:11 AM

I like when people put effort into saving the original structures.  Of course it's easier and possibly cheaper to tear down, but then you start losing the character and charm of the area.  If enough people tear down, then there's a good chance the neighborhood loses the feel that made it appealing to begin with.



#48 Zetna

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Posted 22 March 2014 - 08:04 AM

mmmdan, I totally agree w/ you, even on interesting concrete block structures...this one was an uninteresting box without any nice openings or detail on it. I'm also for saving for "green" reasons.....I guess with so many new large openings and steel headers being put into the structure as well as a lot of rework of other steel framing that I would have thought the original structure would have been cheaper to tear down than reuse. 



#49 Jeriat

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Posted 22 March 2014 - 10:36 AM

So THAT'S what that was when I was driving down Magnolia the other day...  

I already like it! 


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#50 John T Roberts

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Posted 22 March 2014 - 02:17 PM

You all know, I'm a preservationist at heart.  I guess that's one of the reasons why I was elected Chairman of Historic Fort Worth, Inc.  With that said, the building is located within the Fairmount/Southside Historic District, and without looking at all of the previous cases, they might have decided that it was better to retain some of what was there.







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