Urban village with new homes, hotel and restaurants coming to this Fort Worth suburb
Vacant land which was once home to a regional shopping mall is taking shape as an urban village.
On Wednesday morning, officials gathered to break ground on the 52-acre mixed use City Point development which will feature a hotel, restaurants and retail along with single-family homes and multi-family residences.
City Point is also home to the North Richland Hills City Hall. It is located on Boulevard 26, south of Loop 820.
“We are excited to celebrate the next chapter in the life of this property,” mayor Oscar Trevino said during the ceremony.
Centurion American Development Group is spearheading the City Point project which will feature 366 single family homes, 400-600 multi-family units, parks, an amenity center, trails and 60,000 square feet of commercial development, according to a news release.
A hotel will be located on the corner of Boulevard 26 and Rodger Line Drive, and the commercial space will also feature restaurants, entertainment, retail and office space.
The single-family residential portion of City Point will be a mix of approximately 122 two- or three-story urban homes, 46 one- or two-story bungalows and 198 two-story town homes.
The residential portion of the development will feature a modern design to complement the exterior of the city hall.
City Point will be developed in one phase, and will take around seven years to complete, according to the news release.
Earlier this year, work got underway to build streets, sidewalks, waterlines and other utilities for the development.
City Point could not have happened without certain events and decisions, Trevino said.
“It was a disappointment to lose the mall,” Trevino said.
When the mall closed in 2004, it affected the city’s budget.
The property owner wasn’t successful in revitalizing the mall, and it was demolished in 2007.
Trevino said a citizens committee recommended relocating city hall, and in 2012, voters approved a $48 million bond at the tail end of the recession to build the new city hall to make way for other development. The new bulding opened in 2016.
Trevino said he was “leery” at first of the committee’s recommendation to relocate city hall and develop inside the loop.
“Over the past five years, the city’s vision led us to a high quality, sustainable development. This leads us to today with Centurion American. We couldn’t think of a better organization and partner to develop what we call City Point,” Trevino said.
Trevino said North Richland Hills considered several developers, but Centurion American was chosen because of its financing plan and track record.
Centurion American has developed other projects such as Founder’s Parc in Euless and The Entrada in Southlake.
Mehrdad Moayedi, CEO of Centurion American, said “We are proud to be here. The way the council has treated us, we feel that we are on the way to getting it done in short order. We want to live up to our promises,” he said.