Eyeworks Group starts retail and office building on West Seventh

Four years after buying land at the southeast corner of West Seventh Street and University Drive, the Eyeworks Group is beginning construction on its planned retail and office building.

Eyeworks will expand into the five-story, 60,000-square-foot building across from the Modern Art Museum with its third location. Regions Bank has leased office space at the site.

The new location, 3017 W. Seventh St., will feature luxury optical and eyewear sales as well as the Chu Eye Institute, which offers comprehensive vision care, cataract surgery, Lasik vision correction and corneal specialists. Eyeworks has locations on Hulen Street and in Southlake.

“This new building and the expansion of Eyeworks Group is a reflection of the growth we’ve seen in Fort Worth,” said Dr. Robert Chu Jr., managing director of Eyeworks Group. “During our 30 years of service to the community, we have continued to expand our services to meet growing needs.”

Chu said the eye practice, founded in 1986 by Dr. Lena Chu, has about 15,000 patients and makes more than 8,000 pairs of glasses a year.

The building is expected to be completed by January.

Innovate Property Holdings, held by Lena and Robert Chu, bought the 29,031-square-foot tract from the MPA Foundation, a non-for-profit led by philanthropist Anne Marion. The corner was once a the site of a Chevron gas station.

Property at the high-profile intersection was deed restricted to limit building heights to three stories, or 60 feet. Chu said they were able to have that changed because the building would not block the view of downtown from the top-floor conference room at the Modern Art Museum and it won’t be any taller than neighboring buildings in the West 7th development.

Muckleroy & Falls is the project’s general contractor, with financing provided by EECU Credit Union. The credit union said it made $38 million in commercial loans in 2014. The architect on the project is Bennett Benner Partners.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Eyeworks Group starts retail and office building on West Seventh."