Nothing chafes me more today (not even a bad legal case!) than walking by that great expanse of downtown property being graded, this valuable piece of "commercial" real estate bounded by Cherry, Burnett, and NE 13, the city so carelessly allowed to become a four-story apartment complex. Right smack dab in downtown. In the middle of low-rise and high-rise commercial buildings.
This is even worse than QT at Henderson and Lancaster. At least that will be a commercial enterprise.
When I was growing up in Fort Worth, then moved to Oklahoma City for a brief while, my observation was that apartment complexes were relegated to the suburbs. Downtown was office buildings, courthouses, retail businesses, hotels, and residential towers. Not four-story apartment complexes.
I know that markets rule and the city regulates with respect to rezoning and subdivision regulations. But, if I had been either a council member, a chamber member, or a planning and development department staffer, I would have wanted a policy-driven set of priorities in terms of downtown development. First and foremost, office buildings and government buildings; second, commercial retail; third, hotels; fourth, high-rise residential. But no, absolutely no, four-story apartment complexes. But this all started back in the mid-to-late 1980s when the city began allowing apartment complexes along Henderson, then in the Jones-Calhoun area, then in the bluffs, and now smack dab in the middle of downtown! As a Fort Worth native, I'm proud of my city and its downtown, and I don't like what's happening!