Economy forces change at West 7th development
“The hotel is still a possibility, but given what we’ve seen with the residential leases, we’ll probably go forward with turning that into additional multifamily,” said Kirk Williams, vice president of development for Dallas-based Cypress Equities, which is developing the West 7th project.
Among the other changes at the $200 million development:
• The second office building will not begin construction until a tenant is found.
• Fort Worth City Market is no longer part of the project.
• The grand opening, originally set for October, has been pushed back to March 2010.
Williams said signs of progress are evident all around the high-profile development. Several retail spaces are undergoing finish-out currently with plans to open this fall, but in this sluggish real estate market, the official grand opening for the project had to be pushed back and the hotel piece of the development – once slated as a 150-room boutique hotel on the southeast corner at Crockett and Currie Streets – will likely become an extension of The Lofts at West 7th.
The West 7th development, located along Fort Worth’s West Seventh Street and bound by University Drive to the west and Foch Street to the east, includes 106,000 square feet of office; 345 apartments; and 240,000 square feet of retail and restaurants.
The decision to add multifamily units in place of the hotel is likely to be made soon, Williams said.
“It would add 100 units onto The Lofts [at West 7th] and just be a continuance of that development. I’m not saying the hotel is absolutely not going to happen, but we’re weighing the delivery of both projects and it appears the residential has a greater demand in the market.”
Should Cypress decide to go forward with The Lofts expansion, it would be the only mid-priced rental units under construction along the West Seventh corridor, though the nearby Museum Place development has plans for a similar multifamily component.
Residential
The Lofts at West 7th, at 929 Norwood St., opened for lease July 24 and moved in its first occupants Sept. 12, according to The Lofts Business Manager Damon Lively. To date, 77 of the 345 apartments are leased, including all four of the complex’s largest, 1,917-square-foot units.
The complex, which is managed by Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co., features units from 497 square feet to 1,917 square feet and rents range from $650 to $2,370.
“We’re seeing all kinds of people coming in, but they all love the location and what’s happening in the area,” Lively said.
Should the apartments be expanded in place of the slated hotel piece, Williams said there would not be a bridge connecting the existing buildings with an additional building, and all features of the newer complex would be identical.
Retail
Four tenants are slated to open at West 7th in October, including Movie Tavern, Tillman’s Roadhouse, Paciugo and Yofe, according to Williams. A second round of retailers are planning for a December opening, including LA Fitness, Bailey’s Prime Plus, Patrizio and Delaney’s Irish Pub.
One of the flashier pieces to West 7th’s retail – Lucky Strike Lanes – hit a funding snag and is temporarily delayed, but Williams said the retailer is making progress and likely will look to a March 2010 opening.
Earlier this year, Lucky Strike put the brakes on a new retail location in mid-construction in Houston citing funding issues. That project since has re-started and is set to open in Houston this fall. Williams said that is indicative of the current market, but Lucky Strike’s next project is in the West 7th development and the retailer is committed to the location.
“We’re still working with them and the lease is still in effect,” Williams said. “… We’re working with them on getting started. Houston was first and then they’re turning their attention here.”
One retailer originally announced for West 7th, however, will not make it, Williams said. The planned Fort Worth City Market, which was to have been a prepared food market similar to Dallas City Market, likely will not come through, Williams said.
“Fort Worth City Market is probably not going to happen,” he said. “It’s a casualty of what everybody’s gone through over the last 18 months, but that’s OK. It happens and it’s unfortunate and we don’t like it, but we understand it.”
Office
Two tenants are set to move into the office component at West 7th by Thanksgiving including Fort Worth accounting firm Weaver and Tidwell LLP, which signed a 36,000-square-foot lease to occupy the top two floors of the building at West Seventh and Foch streets, and Multatech Engineering Inc., an architectural and engineering firm, which inked a 10,390-square-foot lease.
The remainder of the 106,000-square-foot, Class A building is still for lease. The building, however, was originally slated to have a 130,000-square-foot counterpart at University Drive and West Seventh Street within the West 7th project. According to Nanci Johnson-Plump, a partner at Peloton Real Estate Partners, which is handling leasing of the office space, the current building will be the only office component at West 7th for the foreseeable future unless a tenant signs on to build out the 130,000-square-foot proposed building.
“Everything is lined up for that space and should someone say they want it, it’s absolutely ready to go,” Johnson-Plump said. “But in this market, it won’t be built as spec space.”
Grand opening
Williams said retailers and restaurants slated for openings this year will carry on, but the official grand opening for the project has been pushed back to March 2010 due to construction and finish-outs taking a bit longer than planned and the approaching holiday season and Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, set for January and February 2010.
“We knew to have a grand opening in October, things had to go absolutely perfectly, but as usually happens with so many moving pieces like contractors and planning, etc., it was sliding into late November and then into December,” he said. “So the obvious grand opening date would put us into January, which is no time to have a grand opening and not wanting to conflict with the rodeo, we just pushed it back to March.”
Though the project may look somewhat different than originally conceived next March, Williams said the grand opening will be “Fort Worth’s coming out.”
“… The way we see it is this is a huge time and we absolutely don’t want to conflict with schedules; we want to be a part of it,” he said. “Restaurants have their space and Movie Tavern, their GC is on site now, so things are coming together. We’ve had a few unexpected things come up, but everyone has these days. This is going to be a great project and one Fort Worth can be proud of.”
