143 replies to this topic

[Doohickie]

Fort Liquor is about 5 blocks away, on 10th St., a block west of Henderson.

[Jeriat]

Fort Liquor is about 5 blocks away, on 10th St., a block west of Henderson.

You saw that, too? 

Seemed a little out of place.

[Doohickie]

The area is evolving.

[eastfwther]

 

Looks like a housing project out of some movie like The Professional.  Not worthy of Ft. Worth.

 

Laugh at the post-Modernists if you will, but, perhaps, they realized what they were up against with regards to "something new" and did the best they could.  Today's architecture is mostly sterile garbage without form and beauty.  Put this piece next to the T&P building and it would look like left-over refuse.

I agree.  This style of pancake-plex has no place in downtown... maybe west 7th or SoMa...  but not in the heart of downtown.  The only positive thing is that is will bring more residents to downtown.

 

This cheap, rambling style is most unattractive in this area.  It could have been less rambling if they would have added a few more stories and went upward instead of  outward.  But I've been educated that high rise residential can work in every other city and suburb in DFW except downtown Ft Worth, so this is what we get.  I'm reminded of this everyday I come to work and see a rather attractive high rise apartment building going up in THE COLONY!! 

[John T Roberts]

This type of construction is a relatively new type brought on by changes in the building code, but I do wish there was some way that the location of these type of structures could be limited.  That location, in my opinion would be in Downtown.  However, in doing so, I would not want to hamper development.  I'm sure because of the economic conditions present in Fort Worth that requiring a concrete or steel framed building with a minimum number of floors would hamper development.  Our "H - Central Business District" Zoning is the least restrictive in the city and you can just about build anything you wish, providing you adhere to the Downtown Design Standards and Guidelines.

[Urbndwlr]

This type of construction is a relatively new type brought on by changes in the building code, but I do wish there was some way that the location of these type of structures could be limited.  That location, in my opinion would be in Downtown.  However, in doing so, I would not want to hamper development.  I'm sure because of the economic conditions present in Fort Worth that requiring a concrete or steel framed building with a minimum number of floors would hamper development.  Our "H - Central Business District" Zoning is the least restrictive in the city and you can just about build anything you wish, providing you adhere to the Downtown Design Standards and Guidelines.

How about the City & County provide an incentive (like a density bonus) for desired building attributes such as concrete structure, height over 5/6 floors, facade materials, (could add others - like a point system). 

 

Will be interesting to see the rents achieved in 1) 901 Commerce and 2) the planned apartments in Museum Place (part of Crescent development).  If those are extra-high-end, it would give insight into the depth of demand for the next level up of high end apartments in Fort Worth (if they go well, could see more getting financed). 

[Austin55]

Will be interesting to see the rents achieved in 1) 901 Commerce and 2) the planned apartments in Museum Place (part of Crescent development).  If those are extra-high-end, it would give insight into the depth of demand for the next level up of high end apartments in Fort Worth (if they go well, could see more getting financed). 

I have heard that most of the premium properties in Fort Worth with the highest rents have leased up fairly quickly (Kelley at Samuels, Broadstone 5th & Summit, George at Clearfork, and Bexley at Left Bank being the ones called out) so it seems residents in wood-framed buildings are willing to pay.

[Urbndwlr]

 

Will be interesting to see the rents achieved in 1) 901 Commerce and 2) the planned apartments in Museum Place (part of Crescent development).  If those are extra-high-end, it would give insight into the depth of demand for the next level up of high end apartments in Fort Worth (if they go well, could see more getting financed). 

I have heard that most of the premium properties in Fort Worth with the highest rents have leased up fairly quickly (Kelley at Samuels, Broadstone 5th & Summit, George at Clearfork, and Bexley at Left Bank being the ones called out) so it seems residents in wood-framed buildings are willing to pay.

 

Think those rents for the 4-6 story apartment properties are generally in $1.90-2.25/SF range right?   I'd (wildly) guess the concrete highrise would need $2.75/SF+

[Austin55]

The facade on the West side is starting to wrap up

[Crestline]

Excited to see if this activates the neighborhood a bit. I don't think there are any other significant residential buildings within 3-4 blocks in any direction.

[JBB]

Pinnacle Bank Place has residential 4 blocks to the east.

[renamerusk]

May I add, Pinnacle looks dramatically better than does BL.  The decision by BL not to continue with the color scheme along this stretch of Lancaster is disappointing.

[Crestline]

Pinnacle Bank Place has residential 4 blocks to the east.

 

Oh yeah, duh! Well, the more the merrier on this stretch of Lancaster.  Now just need to get the remaining grass strips / parking lots on the north side of the street developed ...

[elpingüino]

The facade on the West side is starting to wrap up

I drove by recently and noticed that the south facade (facing Lancaster) looks the same as it did several months ago, only about a third completed. Is this project paused because of materials shortages, or maybe they're working on the interiors instead?

[rriojas71]

I'd say most likely it is a lack of materials.  It is industry wide

[JBB]

My brother is a superintendent for a sub on an apartment project in Austin.  His portion was supposed to be complete in mid September and he's still there due to material delays.

[Austin55]

Yeh I bet thats what it is. I have heard that they expect move in if completed units to begin next month.

[JBB]

I've noticed in recent weeks that this project looks to be moving closer to being complete.

[johnfwd]

Walked by there this morning.  Seems a lot more work still needs to be done on the southeast section.  Incidentally, please correct me if I am mistaken, but I counted six 5-story sections to this complex.  If each section was stacked one upon the other that would be roughly a 30-story tower.  Or two 15-floor towers.  That doesn't include the parking garage.  Yep, a lot of wasted downtown land.

[JBB]

It's not an apples to oranges comparison.  The costs on a 30-story or 2 15-story buildings are completely different from 6 5-story buildings.  It's not a waste of anything.  I know people here get tired of hearing this, but every one of these developments that are acceptable, utilize vacant or under-utilized space, and may be not completely perfect makes it more and more likely that we'll see taller buildings going forward.

[WTXKid]

JBB has a point. These units will help market analysts justify higher rents in the future. Higher rents will likely mean taller buildings. 

[JBB]

Not only that, but occupying vacant or under-utilized land with something useful increases the value and scarcity of the space available for development.  That's needed to make bigger projects more viable.  It's basic supply and demand.  Maybe 25 years from now, land downtown will be scarce enough that Burnett Lofts is redeveloped into 2 30-story towers.

[Austin55]

I saw a TDLR filing for "Fitness/ Retail Areas" here, and it looks like there will indeed be a small area of retail at the end of the L shape, but I'm not sure where the gym is. I'm curious how this will actually turn out. 

 

[rriojas71]

I also noticed that the northern portion of the building already has tenant's in it.  I'm not surprised that they are already leasing out units but I drove by a couple of weeks ago and there was no sign of any tenants then; or maybe none that were noticeable.

[johnfwd]

Not only that, but occupying vacant or under-utilized land with something useful increases the value and scarcity of the space available for development.  That's needed to make bigger projects more viable.  It's basic supply and demand.  Maybe 25 years from now, land downtown will be scarce enough that Burnett Lofts is redeveloped into 2 30-story towers.

Point well taken.  My urban economics course taught me that the increase in density in a land-locked downtown makes available land for development more scarce, a result being it's more economical to go vertical rather than horizonal.  At least I think I got the course lessons correct.  

[Stadtplan]

 

Not only that, but occupying vacant or under-utilized land with something useful increases the value and scarcity of the space available for development.  That's needed to make bigger projects more viable.  It's basic supply and demand.  Maybe 25 years from now, land downtown will be scarce enough that Burnett Lofts is redeveloped into 2 30-story towers.

Point well taken.  My urban economics course taught me that the increase in density in a land-locked downtown makes available land for development more scarce, a result being it's more economical to go vertical rather than horizonal.  At least I think I got the course lessons correct.  

 

 

You could have saved that tuition and learned the same lesson playing SimCity:

 

[JBB]

 

Not only that, but occupying vacant or under-utilized land with something useful increases the value and scarcity of the space available for development.  That's needed to make bigger projects more viable.  It's basic supply and demand.  Maybe 25 years from now, land downtown will be scarce enough that Burnett Lofts is redeveloped into 2 30-story towers.

Point well taken.  My urban economics course taught me that the increase in density in a land-locked downtown makes available land for development more scarce, a result being it's more economical to go vertical rather than horizonal.  At least I think I got the course lessons correct.  

 

 

Except downtown FW isn't really landlocked nor does it have a scarcity of vacant or under-utilized land.

[steave]

 Unrelated, but that city (Demo City) came with the trial version of Simcity 2000 that was on the Sim Copter CD ROM. When I was a kid that was my first experience with Simcity. I discovered that the Demo City was just a save file and you could change the name of another city save file that came on the SimCopter disk to play it. SimCopter used Simcity 2000 city save files and converted them into 3D cities you could explore, meaning you could change the name and put Demo City in there too. I think the Demo City city was an earlier version of another pre-made city called Cape Wells or River City, not sure, but it was created by one of the play testers whose names are in the credits.

 

I'm super nostalgic about that game

[Stadtplan]

I saw a TDLR filing for "Fitness/ Retail Areas" here, and it looks like there will indeed be a small area of retail at the end of the L shape, but I'm not sure where the gym is. I'm curious how this will actually turn out. 

 

https://accela.fortw...ShowInspection=

 

Record PB22-08661: 

Commercial Remodel Building Permit

Record Status: Pending

 

Project Description:

BURNETT LOFTS FITNESS/RETAIL AREA

FITNESS/RETAIL AREA INTERIOR TENANT FIT-OUT, NEW CONSTRUCTION

[John T Roberts]

Since no one has posted finished photographs of the north end of the building, I thought I would post a couple that I took yesterday.  The Lancaster side is still not finished, so I will wait to take pictures of that end of the building.  The first shot is up close of the northwest corner, and the second photo shows all of the west side, including the parking garage.

 

burnettlofts01 by jtrobert, on Flickr

 

burnettlofts02 by jtrobert, on Flickr

[AndyN]

Nice pictures, John. I thought it was a computer rendering at first. Are any of the units occupied yet?

[JBB]

I also noticed that the northern portion of the building already has tenant's in it.  I'm not surprised that they are already leasing out units but I drove by a couple of weeks ago and there was no sign of any tenants then; or maybe none that were noticeable.

[John T Roberts]

The northern portion of the building does have tenants in it.  It appears that not every unit in this portion of the building is occupied at this time.

[roverone]

I went by this the other day and I feel like the panels of the parking garage have a wrong-sized pattern on them that makes them visually distracting.  If the geometries would have been larger it might have looked more structural, and if then had been smaller it might have blended into a "texture".  At the size they are, it pulls you eye away from the apartments.

 

It might as simple as reducing the high contrast and if the concrete was painted with the colors of the apartments the voids would not be so sharply delineated.

[elpingüino]

The northern portion of the building does have tenants in it.  It appears that not every unit in this portion of the building is occupied at this time.

I frequently see ads for Burnett Lofts so it's fair to say they're still trying to find tenants.

[John T Roberts]

Andy, thank you for the comments.  The photos were taken on my phone.  The only editing that I did on the photos were a little bit of enhancement of sharpness and colors and straightening the vertical lines on the building (perspective control).  These are usually the only edits I make to my photos of buildings.  By the way, I use Photoshop for my editing.

[rriojas71]

The northern portion of the building does have tenants in it.  It appears that not every unit in this portion of the building is occupied at this time.

I frequently see ads for Burnett Lofts so it's fair to say they're still trying to find tenants.

Yeah it hasn’t been open long and the first round of tenants always takes time to fill. It doesn’t open up and then a flood of tenants move in. People have to let their current leases expire some people don’t know if it’s open. It can take an entire year or more for it to get fully leased if it ever gets fully leased.

[Austin55]

Looks like everything is done except some landscaping, on the exterior at least. All the barricades came down this week. 

 

[johnfwd]

Looks like everything is done except some landscaping, on the exterior at least. All the barricades came down this week. 

 

From where did you take this aerial photo?

[JBB]

I would assume that is a drone shot.

[Austin55]

It was from a drone, about 350 feet up over the intersection of 13th and Taylor. It's a nice quiet part of town.

 

BTW - In driving by there is a noticeable increase in dog walkers, people coming and going from the building, etc. Def a nice injection of energy into that corner of town, and hopefully more to come. 

[Austin55]

Sounds like a coffee shop, Inclusion Coffee, will open in Burnett Loft's retail space. Inclusion also has a location in Downtown Arlington's 101 Center, which is also a Catalyst development. 

[TLA]

Walked around the building a few weeks back. They did a great job with the streetscape, especially the brickwork.

I was surprised how many of the balconies already had stuff on them - great sign of these units filling up. This side of downtown is so quiet and ripe with development potential.

[Austin55]

A few other angles now that it is wrapped up