On June 7, the Southside TIF Board of Directors met and approved, among other things, a two-part TIF Development Agreement with Dolabi Development LLC for $6 million.
At a previous Fort Worth City Council meeting, plans for a Magnolia Village project to add a six-story 138-room hotel at 1120 Magnolia Ave. in the Near Southside were approved. A four-story parking garage and high-end, luxury condominiums are scheduled to be constructed as well, with the structure overlooking Oleander Way. A commercial space will be provided on the ground floor of the hotel, with a restaurant and possibly retail expected. Additionally, a private park for public use is planned to the west of the hotel, on South Henderson Street.
The agreement and requested TIF support are split into two: $2.5 million for infrastructure and $3.5 million for a public parking easement ¬– both motions were carried unopposed.
The TIF support for infrastructure will go toward reimbursing the developer, Central City Local Government Corp., for water, sewer and electric line upgrades and relocation as well as the resurfacing and reconstruction of Henderson Street, fixing the drainage situation at Oleander and Henderson intersection, and the addition of a private park for public use which will also serve as a storm water detention area. Payment will not be made to the developer until the entire $66 million project is complete.
The public parking easement TIF support allows for the acquisition of an easement by CCLGC of 150 of the 350-400 total spaces in the parking garage to be used for free, public use 24/7 and be maintained by the garage ownership.
There had been controversy from residents in the surrounding area about additional traffic and the lack of available parking, but TIF Administrator Paul Paine says that is in the past.
“As a part of this proposal the developer had a traffic study conducted that determined that it would not add congestion to the area. On parking, we addressed that today with the proposal for 150 public spaces 24/7 and maintained by the developer at their cost going forward,” he said, adding that 150 spaces are the equivalent of all the spaces on the south side of Magnolia Street between Eighth Avenue and Hemphill Street.
Paine also added that since the council’s approval of the project there has been an overall spirit of cooperation between the developer and the residents.
“When there was controversy in getting the use approved to the council, to the compliment of the neighborhood it was, ‘okay, that decision now has been made, we have a hotel that’s going to be allowed and let’s work together,’ ” he said. “I want to compliment Fairmount and their leadership in saying let’s move forward and work together.”
There will be a council meeting in the future to approve the design of all aspects of the project before construction can begin, though they hope to begin construction by April 30, 2018 and have the project completed no later than April 30, 2021.
“The landowner is Mike Dolabi and he owns the mail building – the adjacent historical building – so, when it came to architecture, he was as concerned as any resident as well because it’s going to be next to his historic building and would have an impact, positive or negative, on his existing property so he wanted to make sure it was very complimentary to that investment,” Paine said. “Mike Dolabi has always had a spirit of cooperation, of being a part of the community … It just speaks volumes of Mike Dolabi’s true heart for saying ‘I’m here, I’m vested, I’m a part of this community, I’m not going anywhere and I want to contribute.’ ”
Another TIF Development Agreement unanimously approved was SoMa District Developers LLC’s three-phase project in South Main Village, which includes phase-one renovations to four existing commercial buildings located at 105 and 125 S. Main St., with the intention to add four to five retail spaces, space for public use and two parking lots. Additionally, the developers plan to have two future phases of renovations at a later date that will include a new building on South Main Street and the adaptive reuse of three buildings on Bryan Avenue.
The renovations for phase one are set to begin Aug. 31, 2017 and end Aug. 31, 2018. Out of the $2,232,326 project, TIF financial support of $221,000 will be paid, in two parts, upon completion of the first two phases.
Phase one ends Aug. 31, 2018 and includes improvements to the streetscape, environmental abatement, and the creation of a public plaza and play space. Phase two ends Dec. 31, 2020 and will include, among other renovations, streetscape improvements to Daggett Street, which will be done in tandem with the city of Fort Worth’s Daggett Street repair project, currently scheduled for 2019-2020. Phases two and yet-to-be-scheduled three are expected to add retail, office and residential areas to South Main Village in the form of a 3-4 story building to replace the short-term surface parking lot, warehouse renovation to create commercial and retail space, and the expansion of the public plaza.