ShareHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
Redevelopment of the historic Texas & Pacific warehouse on Lancaster Avenue in downtown Fort Worth will include a driveway through the center of the building, a boardwalk along storefronts on the north side of the building, and the restoration and addition of thousands of windows.
The work, a portion of what’s needed to convert the nearly 80-year-old building into 343 apartments, was revealed Thursday at the Downtown Design Review Board meeting. The board approved the developer’s request to change the building’s facade.The approval is a key nod that pushes the long-awaited redevelopment closer to reality. The developer, Dallas-based Cleopatra Investments, can now be issued building permits to begin construction.Owner Ola Assem said work could begin by mid-2010, but several approvals are needed and she’s still negotiating financing for the $40 million project.The changes also need approval from the Lancaster Tax Increment Finance District board, which meets in December. The project stands to receive $9.1 million from the TIF if the project meets certain deadlines.The Texas Historic Commission has approved the modifications, but Assem said she’s waiting on word from the National Park Service. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The windows on the north and south sides will be expanded by removing about three feet of brick below the existing windows and installing fixed, tinted windows that will have a horizontal line to mimic the mortar lines of the brick on each side. The existing windows are more than six feet off the floor, so adding the bottom window not only allows more light, but would let residents look outside.The developer is also being allowed to put windows on the west side, where none exist, as well as restore the more than 2,500 existing windows.In addition, a 9-foot-wide boardwalk will be built under an existing 12-foot concrete canopy on the north side, and the existing dock doors will be opened and rebuilt to create storefronts. Shoppers and residents will have several access points to the building along the boardwalk, architects said.Also, the center of the building will be designed to allow car access to the south side for parking.The apartments will be on the second through eighth floors, and about 39,000 square feet on the first level will be for shops and restaurants.SANDRA BAKER, 817-390-7727
@Nyx.CommentBody@