There’s been a lot of talk about Downtown Fort Worth getting a grocery for several years.
Now it looks like those who live downtown are about to get their wish. Neighbor’s House Grocery on March 27 announced the opening of a store at 500 W. 7th Street. The new location faces 6th Street in the “First on 7th” project in the Fort Worth Central Business District.
Neighbor’s House Grocery will provide produce, chef-prepared meals and wine.
Owner Kyle Cowan said in a news release: “The opportunity to bring an urban grocery store and restaurant to downtown is the culmination of a lifelong dream. After more than 20 years as a chef, I am looking forward to bringing a new kind of inviting grocery experience to our neighbors.”
Along with Cowan, shoppers many also be able to talk with Houston, the grocery’s service dog, “who’s always there to greet you with a wag,” according to the news release.
Neighbor’s House Grocery is the first of several street-level retail outlets planned for the First on 7th complex on the central business district’s west side. Ready-to-eat or cook-at-home chef-prepared meals, a lunch bistro, wine and local craft beer are among the store’s offerings. Owner Kyle Cowan is a chef whose resume spans restaurants across the South and West, including his role as executive chef at the highly regarded Water Grill in Dallas. .
“With increasing numbers of people living and working in the central business district, and with many more downtown residential projects in the works or on the drawing board, Neighbor’s House Grocery is poised to meet a real and growing need in this part of the city,” said Red Oak Realty President Jack Clark. “The grocery also has sparked quite a large amount of additional interest in First on 7th office and retail space, and we expect to have more good news to share in the near future.”
The First on 7th project (originally First National Bank of Fort Worth) is a 21-story tower that features the clean, geometric lines and spare décor emblematic of mid-century modern design. Designed by New York’s Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and associate architect Preston M. Geren of Fort Worth, the building was completed in 1961 and is set off by a modernist outdoor sculpture by famed designer Isamu Noguchi.
A major update to the complex, led by Red Oak Realty, began in December 2018 and is planned for completion in the latter part of 2019. Improvements include new landscaping and abundant shade for the broad plaza on the building’s south side, a remodeling of the glass-lined lobby that will highlight the works of mid-20th century artists, and the ongoing addition of street-level restaurant and retail businesses.
Construction is beginning soon, with a projected opening for fall, 2019.