FORT WORTH -- The city is moving ahead with plans for an apartment and retail development along Lancaster Avenue at the south end of downtown now that it has acquired land for a parking garage.
The Lancaster Tax Increment Finance District this week approved the $2.5 million purchase of a parking lot on 15th Street, between Jennings Avenue and Throckmorton Street, where it will build the five-story garage. The land was sold Dec. 31 by Lewis Meekins, and Donald Meekins and his wife, Ellen, all of Fort Worth, deed records show.The development is a project of the city's Local Development Corp., which is financing the construction of two apartment buildings with a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The development is planned for the block on the north side of Lancaster Avenue between Throckmorton and Jennings streets.That building, also five stories, will have shops and restaurants on the ground level with more than 130 apartments above. The building's design is being completed.The project stalled last summer when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth backed out of being part of the development with an office building and parking garage of its own. The garage was initially planned for diocese-owned land at Jennings and 13th streets, near St. Patrick's Cathedral, but diocese officials decided it wasn't prudent to get involved in a real estate development.Jay Chapa, director of the city's Housing and Economic Development Department, said the city attempted to buy the Meekins property last year, but the owners declined its offers. It provides a better site for a parking garage than other pieces of land, he said.A date for construction to begin on the parking garage is not known.Chapa said the Local Development Corp. will work to close the HUD loan by the end of the year and plans to start construction in January 2014. Some of the apartments would rent for below-market rates. Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727Twitter: @SandraBakerFWSTHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
