The iconic Fort Worth Stockyards brings visitors from around the world, but more than a year after first announcing a large redevelopment, images of what it could look like are now being released.
The $175 million redevelopment of vacant land and rehabilitation of existing historical buildings was approved by the city council for economic incentives last summer. At a meeting of the Historic Stockyards Design District Task Force on Tuesday, Majestic Realty revealed its site plan publicly.
When the project was first announced it was clear there would be more retail, restaurants and new office space, a hotel and residential. The site plan lays out where those features would be located.
"The plan is conceptual because at this point in time we're only imagining what the possibilities could be," said Craig Cavileer, of Majestic Realty.
Majestic and the Hickman family have formed Fort Worth Heritage, LLC. The Heritage project will only affect the property it owns in the Stockyards District, and the group released maps indicating its properties in addition to the site plan. Cavileer noted in his presentation that it owns just seven-percent of the buildings in the Stockyards.
The lack of a site plan when the economic incentives were approved is what many people were concerned about. Residents, historians and Stockyards property owners were worried about what would be built and where and how it would look.
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Cavileer said unequivocally that none of Heritage's buildings will be torn down, including historic buildings like the Scale House, auction building and the Mule Barns. The barns, which house the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, are mostly empty. Cavileer says 180,000 square feet are empty right now.
"The rest of them are falling apart, are empty and they're not creating any real economic value or experiential value," he told the task force.
The issue of authenticity remains a concern, as property owner and task force member Phillip Murrin pointed out when asking Cavileer questions during his presentation.
"It's part of what people like. It's dirty, it's gritty, it's old and it's authentic," Murrin said.
Cavileer said they'll keep with the existing architectural look but can't make buildings look like they're from the late 1800s.
As for any specifics on building designs, they'll only come about after the design district guidelines are put into place by the city. It's not clear when that will happen, but the task force is set to expire at the end of the year.
City leaders remain confident though that the project won't disappoint and ensure the public that the city council will make sure it stays within history.
"Ultimately the design guidelines will help us get there," said Mayor Betsy Price. "And the reality of it is Hickman's is a Fort Worth company who understands. They bought here originally because they wanted to stay historic and why would anybody get rid of something they paid a lot of money for."
Majestic did say it's already received interest from several clients, horse associations and RFD Television about the remodeled Mule Barn spaces, and they will soon meet with an architect and design firm to work on the areas.
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