This could be the next hot urban village, but right now it’s a muddy mess

Despite its name, Race Street at the moment is a place where no one is going anywhere fast.

The planned urban village two miles east of downtown Fort Worth is pocked with potholes and awash in mud, the result of several inches of rain that fell during the past few days. The precipitation fell after crews had begun work on the road, scraping off the pavement and exposing the roadbed to the elements — and creating a gooey runoff.

But those who support the project are taking the weather setback in stride.

“Race Street may be a muddy mess right now, but the wide, separated bike Lanes and parallel parking areas are already shaping up,” Fort Worth Urban (@UrbanFortWorth) wrote on Twitter this weekend while also posting photos. “This is perhaps the most well designed complete street in Fort Worth.”

Race Street, is little known outside of east Fort Worth, and the neighborhood is only a few blocks long, mostly squeezed between Sylvania Avenue, Riverside Drive and Belknap Street. A few other streets leading to the Trinity River bluffs or the Carter-Riverside area are also part of the neighborhood, which is sometimes alternately called Six Points Urban Village.

The area is being carefully redeveloped with a mix of modern and renovated apartments, shops and restaurants.

If all goes as envisioned, the new multifamily homes will provide additional pedestrian traffic for several already-popular eateries in the area, including Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Gypsy Scoops ice cream, Tributary Cafe and the New York Style Pizza place, which also happens to feature Chicago-style hot dogs and sandwiches.

Several smaller businesses, including studios, a dog grooming place, a doughnut shop and barber shop, also speckle the area. The Palm Tree apartments near Race Street and Sylvania Avenue has 24 units where formerly homeless people can live for nominal rent with the help of federal vouchers.

Councilwoman Ann Zadeh, whose district includes the area, urged passers-by not to be discouraged by the current mess.

“Remember to support the businesses on this street during the ‘muddy mess’ part,” she wrote on Twitter.

In all, about $5.6 million is scheduled to be spent over the next year or so on improving traffic flow, sidewalks, landscaping, lighting and other outdoor furnishings.

As Fort Worth continues to grow vigorously at its suburban edges, neighborhoods such as Race Street serve as reminders that forgotten enclaves in the aging city center can be renovated in ways that appeal to new residents.

“There’s a lot to discover here,” Henry Vasquez, who runs Born Late Records & Tattoos, at 2920 Race St., said in March. “There are a lot of interesting little shops here,” he said, “and some of the best food I have ever had in my life I have eaten here.”

Developer Pretlow Riddick, president of Dallas-based Criterion Development Partners, is building two loft-style apartment complexes in the area.

With 276 units and 23 town homes, The Scenic at River East is already open for business and overlooks the Trinity River and downtown. That complex is accessible by Race Street, but it’s also west of Sylvania Avenue and a bit outside the boundaries of what is traditionally considered Six Points.

Criterion’s second complex, a 181-unit, mixed-use community with room on the ground floor for storefronts, is under construction at 2814 Race St., smack-dab in the middle of the planned urban village. Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

Some residents and business owners interviewed in March on Race Street said they disliked the vagrant activity that sometimes takes place in vacant lots and behind old buildings in the neighborhood. But others say such activity is normal in a city center and poses no threat to passers-by.

Supporters predicted that as the area fills with new residents and thriving businesses, the perception of danger will subside — just like it did years ago on Magnolia Avenue and more recently on Fort Worth’s South side.

The improvements are funded through $1.5 million in federal funds, as well as about $4.1 million from the city’s 2014 bond fund.

The work should be done in 2019 — weather permitting, of course.

This story includes information from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 10:25 AM.