HALTOM CITY -- It's a plan that city officials believe has Field of Dreams-style promise.
They're convinced that if they're willing to gamble about $28 million to build roads and establish two tax increment financing districts, developers will come."This is the most exciting thing that's happened for the city," Assistant City Manager Chuck Barnett said.New frontage roads and a Texas turnaround at the Haltom Road bridge over Northeast Loop 820 would open huge, previously inaccessible areas to development when the $2.5 billion North Tarrant Express project is finished in mid-2015, officials say."This will be the first undeveloped area coming off the Interstate 35 interchange heading east," said consultant Trent Petty of Petty & Associates. "Developers should see it as the most obvious and easily accessible property in the area."To enhance that perception, Barnett said, the most important thing for Haltom City to do is expand Northern Cross Boulevard -- just south of Loop 820 between North Beach Street and Haltom Road -- from two lanes to five and extend it to U.S. 377.New roads east of Haltom Road would connect the extended sections of Northern Cross to the new eastbound frontage road.Those improvements would serve tax increment financing district No. 1, about 270 acres that includes city-owned land. Such finance districts are areas where incremental increases in property tax revenue generated by development are used to repay developers for the costs of improvements that, in turn, attract more developers, Barnett said."Absolutely the city feels with the improvements and accessibility of 820 and construction of the north and south connectors, new development will take place," he said. "We cannot guarantee the time frame for this development, but it will happen. Hopefully, once developers see the potential along 820 in Haltom City due to access improvements and unrealized development opportunities, we will begin to see development in the next few years."The development is something that residents have heard rumors about for years, Mayor Pro Tem Darlene Hooks said."It's nice that they can see that things are starting to happen for Haltom City," she said.Construction on Northern Cross could begin in 18 to 24 months, Barnett said, with funding coming from a few sources."The city's portion of the $28 million is a combination of cash and debt by the city and a grant from" the North Central Texas Council of Governments and funding from the county, he said.The funding includes $11 million in cash from the city's economic development fund -- about $8 million that's there now and $3 million in future revenue from a half-cent sales tax, Barnett said."In other words, we will pay for the road first using cash without issuing debt," he said.The plan calls for issuing $3 million in 15-year certificates of obligation in 2015, Barnett said. "This brings the total for the city's portion to $14 million," he said.Haltom City received a $13 million grant from the council of governments and $1 million from Tarrant County, Barnett said.The financing districts won't kick in until a developer starts a project, and the City Council hasn't approved their boundaries. But preliminary maps drawn by Petty include 175 acres north of Loop 820 in financing district No. 2.Northern districtRough terrain and drainage issues will make the northern district significantly harder to develop, Barnett said.A new street would connect Haltom Road to the new westbound frontage road at Fort Worth Baptist Church, allowing development in areas east and west of Haltom Road."Once Haltom City committed itself to funding the roads, they needed to make sure that they had tools available to maximize the chances for the properties to develop," Petty said."One of the best tools is tax increment financing. Through the TIFs, the city has a chance to not only capitalize on the investment for the roads but also to produce tremendous new sales tax for the community."The Haltom Road construction has no specific schedule, said Lara Kohl, spokeswoman for Bluebonnet Contractors. But the work to finish new intersections on both ends of the bridge will begin this year.A Texas turnaround, which will make it easy for westbound traffic to reach the eastbound side, will be part of the new configuration, which will also feature east- and westbound frontage road lanes that bypass the Haltom Road intersection, Kohl said.Southern districtThe southern district is more likely to make people want to exit, Petty said, because it's more likely to attract big-box retailers.It could include a train station on city-owned property.The site on the Cotton Belt rail line, near U.S. 377 and Springlake Parkway, is one of four that the Fort Worth Transportation Authority is considering for stations.That makes it ideal for transit-oriented development, in which multifamily residential, retail and commercial properties are built around public transportation hubs, Petty said."We're hopeful of getting a train station put in," he said. "Haltom City is very serious about that, and we've intentionally included that property in the TIF."Terry Evans, 817-390-7620Twitter: @fwstevans