Fort Worth’s downtown continues its recovery in the face of post-pandemic curveballs
Downtown Fort Worth’s post-pandemic recovery is chugging along despite economic headwinds from rising interest rates and national real estate trends.
That was one of the findings from the 2023 “State of Downtown” report released by the neighborhood advocacy nonprofit Downtown Fort Worth Inc.
Interest rates have slowed some development, but downtown still saw a 3% increase in office occupancy in 2023, according to the report.
Some of that may be due to offices being converted into residential buildings along with the new Fort Worth City Hall taking office space square footage out of the downtown market.
However, Downtown Fort Worth had the highest office rent increases in Texas in 2023 with 11% and was second nationally to Atlanta, Georgia, according to the report.
People who work downtown are also making more money than before the COVID-19 pandemic with the average employee’s salary up 19% in 2023, compared to 2019.
Hotel room rates have also increased beyond pre-pandemic levels with at least 1,400 new hotel rooms in the pipeline including the Le Méridien Fort Worth Downtown, which is scheduled to open this spring.
Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. president Andy Taft took time to address the explosion at the Sandman Hotel by praising the response of Fort Worth’s police and firefighters, and the city’s efforts to support businesses affected by the blast.
Speaking directly to the Sandman’s general manager Kathleen McCarthy, Taft said everyone present at Tuesday’s luncheon was pulling for the hotel to make a quick recovery.
There was also a slight increase in the amount of money in the pipeline for developments downtown from $2.3 billion in 2022 to $2.6 billion in 2023.
Most of that development is concentrated in the southeast section of downtown around the new Texas A&M Fort Worth campus, but Taft said he expects more money to flow to other areas with available land.
He highlighted long planned improvements to Heritage Park and Paddock Park north of the Tarrant County Courthouse. The project has managed to raise roughly $35 million of its $50 million budget, and is expected to get approvals on it designs in 2025, Taft said.
He also pointed to efforts to redevelop Fort Worth’s convention center. Fort Worth voters will decide in the May 4 election whether to approve a 2% increase to the city’s hotel tax to pay for the $700 million renovation. .
Taft urged those present at the luncheon to support the measure, which the city expects will generate an additional $10 million per year in revenue.
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