The Texas Aggies are scoring big points in Fort Worth.
On Jan. 19, Texas A&M University announced an expansion of its Fort Worth campus, dubbed Aggieland North by Chancellor John Sharp. The excitement of a football victory met the big announcement.
The three-building compound will be constructed on four blocks at the site of the Texas A&M School of Law. The new project will be a part of Fort Worth’s planned redevelopment near Cowtown’s convention center.
Chancellor Sharp and university leaders made the announcement at the university’s temporary offices in Fort Worth’s Burnett Plaza. Construction will begin this summer on its first building, the Law & Education Building. Stantec will serve as the architect of record and provide planning services, working in partnership with the design architect, Pelli Clarke & Partners. Construction management teams will be Turner Construction Company, CARCON Industries, Source Building Group Inc., and Dikita Enterprises.
“A top-10 public research institution ensures Fort Worth’s future is rooted in the next economy driven by an educated workforce, whether it be lawyers, engineers, health care professionals or technology workers whose jobs don’t even exist today,” the chancellor said in a statement released by the university. “Thanks to our partners, the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the Texas A&M System is investing in a unique public-private sector endeavor that will be a magnet for economic growth for the North Texas region.”
Aggie Expansion Scoring Big
This news for Fort Worth’s central business district is bringing cheers and that well-known Aggie “whoop” from business leaders. Both current Mayor Mattie Parker and former Mayor Betsy Price were there to applaud the news because it’s something many have worked toward for years.
“It is a game-changer for Fort Worth and downtown Fort Worth,” said Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., a Fort Worth organization that promotes the central business district. “Higher education is a key component of the downtown diversity plan. This is a highwater mark in our recruitment of smart people who generate smart people who are very attractive to companies relocating to north Texas.”
Cowtown’s economy has been founded on oil and gas, but diversification has been a “systematic and deliberate goal” for a while, Taft said. He said that hospitality, retail, and restaurant business have been necessary, but education is another critical pillar.
“We’ve been very successful in that and continue to be,” Taft said.
More Than One Can Play This Game
Fort Worth’s downtown area is home to other prominent institutions of higher learning. Tarrant County College’s Trinity River Campus opened in 2009 after TCC purchased the former Radio Shack complex in 2008. The University of Texas at Arlington opened its Fort Worth Campus in 2007 with extensive renovations to the 1938 Santa Fe Freight Depot and former Fort Worth Rail Market. Fort Worth’s growing educational footprint will expand from the site of the Texas A&M School of Law. A three-building complex will be built on four blocks with Texas A&M University, Tarleton State University, and several A&M System agencies offering programs.
Plans for the new A&M site include a high-rise complex with classrooms, labs, and research spaces. Public and private sectors will have access to the buildings for programs, workforce training, and collaborative research, according to university details released last week.
Lucky No. 13
Fort Worth now ranks as the U.S.’s 13th largest city. With this expansion, a burst in housing is expected. Fort Worth, Taft said, is one of the fastest-growing cities in America. He points to 3,000 units currently in various stages of construction in and around downtown.
“There’s $2.2 billion worth of development in the pipeline right now,” he said.
To that, Fort Worth can give an Aggie-style “howdy.”
