RD Milhollin

Cult indoctrination center? Who are these people? They have a history of pushing legal boundaries already. They don't want to to talk to neighbors, give only minimal information to civil authorities. It seems these sorts of organizations are hidden out on west Texas ranches or in Waco. This looks likea residential compound, is that what they are seeking a permit for?

On a positive note: None of the news sources that I saw this reporting this explosion identified the location as Dallas. Oh, and no one died.

The multi-family units facing or backing toward the freeway and train tracks are going to be LOUD! Are these set to be "affordable housing" or is there some noise mitigation built into the construction plans. Don't say trees... trees are not going to be able to dampen the noise.

I hope the owners who did the restoration were justly compensated for their amazing work on the New Isis... Perhaps enough that they could now turn their attention to the Hollywood Theater on 7th Street downtown.

Accidental fires, I'm sure.

Probably unrelated; In Las Vegas one of the casino/hotel chains closed several of their properties during the Civid-19 business slump, and then when recovery began announced they were going to be permanently closed. They imploded a couple to assure they could not be used by another company to provide competition to their remaining casinos. I also seem to remember that several years ago a grocery chain closed their stores in several neighborhoods in and around Fort Worth and poured cement down the drains so the stores could not be used as grocery stores again, again to discourage competition to their remaining stores.

The paint looks much more "clean" and (to me at least) gives the multi-story face a more unified appearance. The new rooftop sign features the updated brand logo font; simpler/sans serif, all uppercase, possibly readable or recognizable from a greater distance. I wonder of the "circumscribed S" graphic logo is going to be installed in the wide, flat gap between the room blocks. Too bad about the almost windowless "brutalist" protruding building element above the porch entrance... looks basically uninviting, probably not the best "curb appeal" for a hotel. Even some vertical louvers would help break up that massing (and no doubt reduce the summer heating on that exterior west-facing wall...), or maybe that would be a better location for a large "S" logo... in any event my eye tells me the paint job is an improvement

I'm very excited for both this project and Auberge Bowie House a bit down from the Crescent development.  I drive past by these sites several times a week and have to say that part of Camp Bowie which serves the entire Cultural Area is a teeth rattling, pot-hole-pocked, mess.  And throw in the ugly medians for good measure.  I hope the City, maybe in partnership with the developers, and museums, and HCA, have a plan to make some improvements.  The newly landscaped and well paved West Lancaster through downtown is a good example of what might be.  

Landscaping with streetcars might be attractive in this area...

AA has announced DFW to Barcelona starting next summer, plus expanding Dublin and Rome to year-round service: https://thepointsguy...es-summer-2024/

Helping to keep those routes secure: Follow this link to an excellent photo of the back of my head from a The Points Guy article:

https://thepointsguy...ficer-training/

I understand that they did not design this building, but... Not a great advertisement for a TAMU Architecture Program

Chinese auto parts supplier picks Fort Worth for EV operations

New research and development center will support electric vehicle production.
 
The new facility will be located at the 46 Ranch Logistics Park which is on the east side of Campus at Oak Grove just south of I-20.
 

A China-based automotive parts supplier is locating a new operation in South Fort Worth that will employ 120 workers.

Junchuang North America Inc. is a subsidiary of Suzhou Junchuang Auto Technologies, a Chinese auto parts manufacturer.
The company provides electric vehicle parts to auto manufacturers including Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford and Mazda.

The parts firm is leasing a 55,000-square-foot industrial space.

"Chinese company investing $21 million to make electric vehicle parts in Fort Worth"

by Harrison Mantas

https://www.star-tel...e277629233.html

 

6101 Campus Dr.

Oh shoot, looks like you beat me to it.

Might be a few good paying, great benefit jobs in counter-espionage opening in Fort Worth in the near future, keep checking USAJOBS.gov

Amtrak is seeking federal funding for a project that would extend the DFW-East Texas line to Atlanta. https://www.news-jou...4a35e8aab8.html

That route should be the mainline running E-W along the Gulf south of the US. Passenger Rail, and Potential high capacity/high speed trains should be considered critical infrastructure as defined by DHS Federal Emergency Management Criteria (and therefore subject to additional funding). The existing/temporarily abandoned coastal route is highly vulnerable to seasonal storm closures, and occasionally is completely taken out of service by major storms, as has been the case for 5+ years... Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, etc. are best served by spurs running off a more secured and strengthened high-speed route running from Fort Worth to Atlanta, with spurs running off from each hub to other geographical destinations. The Fort Worth end should have H-S connections to Houston via Dallas and Waco-Austin-San Antonio-Monterrey, and traditional (for now) AMTRAK service through Abilene to either or both El Paso and Albuquerque, and then on to Tucson-Phoenix-LA or DSAN, and Flagstaff-Vegas-LA. Try to picture the number of short-haul flights between city pairs within the "sweet spot" distance for H-S rail and you can pretty easily see where inefficient air routes could be economically replaced by High-Speed rail. The Fort Worth to Atlanta corridor proposed is really a no-brainer.

The Korean supermarket chain H Mart is opening a store in Haltom City, part of a 50-acre mixed-use development at Beach and 820. First H Mart in Tarrant County. PDF press release: https://www.haltomci...se_aug_2023.pdf

If I remember correctly, there is terrible access to this site from the north (I-35) and west (I-820) due to the City of Haltom City (Department of Redundancy Department...) not having the guts or weight to challenge the TXDot plans for intersection flyover ramps that would allow traffic from those directions to exit to that intersection without a half-mile U-turn. 

Actually, there should be no shopping centers fronting on freeways or their access roads; this sort of developments hinders the ability of the highways to efficiently move traffic. The big and influential Texas cities all have this as part of their development plans though, HC was not able to leverage any strength to compete with the cities better positioned. The sprawl and pavement/heat island problem in north Texas grows incrementally... Enjoy the climate!

I'll qualify what I said before with time is leverage that Cleopatra has in this matter since they've shown no interest in developing the building now.  They've been content to sit on it this long.  What's another 10 years of fighting in court?  I'm not so sure a lack of maintenance is any indication that they won't fight to get what they believe they are owed for the property.  With sporadic code enforcement, there's been no motivation to spend money on maintaining it.  The prospect of losing half of their perceived value of the building in condemnation might provide some much more costly motivation.  And I'll go back to something I like to fall back on: does anyone trust the city to handle this in a way that doesn't take twice as long and cost 3 times as much?  What about their development track record makes anyone think that this is the project to leave in their hands?  I don't even trust them to seize it and turn around and sell it to a developer.

The city will have to be the entity initiating any sort of condemnation proceeding, as far as I can tell. When/if they succeed in wresting the property away from the deadbeat owners how they proceed might go a few different ways. Bringing in a professional contractor to sell the property with the best net advantage for the city would probably be a best case scenario, especially considering the city's track record in real estate that JBB refers to.

Had no idea where to post this, exactly, so here's something I know was discussed on this forum at some time not that long ago:

Victory Shops at Saginaw, which looks like another "urban mixed-use" (but not really) development for an outer 820 loop suburb. It has a brochure, as well. 

You're right. "Urban Mixed Use" and "Pad Sites Available" cannot be used in the same sentence.