New changes to historic neighborhood in North Fort Worth raise concerns among residents

Change is happening at 1332 N. Main St. in Fort Worth, where Transwestern is renovating the old Mulholland building.

“They’d love for a restaurant, an anchor restaurant, and some retail,” said Anette Landeros, president of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Landeros said Transwestern has been in regular contact with the Chamber.

“They’re talking about really innovative ways to allow different types of businesses, Hispanic-owned businesses, to come and participate,” she said.

She said the development, across the street from the Chamber’s office, would include apartments on the top floor.

“They’re looking for the opportunity to offer some units for rent, and they’re hoping to keep those affordable,” Landeros said.

It also includes a rezoning request for high-intensity, mixed-use development.

Richard Pérez is one of the neighbors who received a notice in the mail stating that a public hearing would be held on Wednesday.

“What he’s doing on Main Street, we for the most part accept, that’s great,” he said.

However, the rezoning request includes three properties on Commerce Street behind the Mulholland property—a red flag for Pérez.

“As soon as we saw it, we became concerned,” he said.

Pérez, who lives about a block away, pointed out that one of the properties, a parking lot, could turn into a parking garage after rezoning.

“That could be up to a five- or 10-story structure,” he said. “That concerns us because now we’re no longer a residential area but becoming more of a commercialized area.”

Over the weekend, he petitioned other neighbors to help keep the neighborhood residential.

“So it doesn’t become this congested part of the city, and basically the neighborhood is not erased, with these taller structures,” he explained.

Landeros said she’s heard the concerns and is setting up a meet-and-greet so neighbors can address their concerns directly with Transwestern.

“I totally understand the concerns of the residents, and those absolutely should be heard,” she said. “So hopefully, we can walk away with a development that everyone’s really proud of and really happy to see happening in the community.”

Pérez plans to be there.

“We have a lot of roots here, and he needs to understand how we feel about it,” he said.

He said he’s not opposed to development, even the type of mixed-use village that seems to be on the table. He just wants to make sure that any makeover also preserves the northside’s culture and history—which his own family has been a part of since the 1940s.

“We’re not opposed to all that. But it has to be inclusive of the residents that are here. It can’t just be a buyout of blocks, knock everything down, and then we lose a part of our history, and we lose a part of our roots,” he said.

NBC 5 contacted Transwestern for this story and is waiting to hear back.

District 2 city council member Carlos Flores said the developer missed the deadline to submit changes to the application, so the request is now set to go on April’s agenda.