Montgomery Plaza apartment complex delayed again to ‘wrap up loose ends’ council says
A proposed apartment complex in the West 7th district’s Montgomery Plaza complex will have to wait a little longer for approval from the city of Fort Worth.
KIMCO Realty, which owns the Montgomery Plaza shopping complex, has been trying since July to get permission from the city to convert 90,000 square feet of retail in into a 595-unit apartment complex with 20,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.
The development would replace retailers Five Below, Office Depot, PetSmart, Dollar Tree and Michael’s with a five-story building containing 315 units and a seven-story building containing 280 units.
However, concerns about traffic from the One Montgomery Plaza Homeowners Association, which represents owners of the 240-unit condominium in a former department store on West Seventh Street, has slowed the process, with the city’s zoning commission pushing off approval of the project multiple times over the summer before approving it in October.
The city council is slated to take up the case Nov. 8, but council member Elizabeth Beck, whose district includes West 7th, said Friday she is continuing it to give all sides the opportunity to discuss the project, so she can make sure the neighborhood is getting what it wants.
Adding roughly 600 apartments will bring about 1,200 cars to the area, said association treasurer Brian Sinkiewicz. He questioned how the shopping center and the West 7th district would be able to handle the inflow.
Both KIMCO and the homeowners association submitted competing traffic studies that measured the impact of the development.
KIMCO’s study said traffic would decrease by 38% overall, while the homeowners association study said traffic would increase by 85% in morning rush hour.
The homeowners association claimed KIMCO’s study relies on an traffic modeling system that doesn’t accurately capture traffic conditions.
However, city traffic engineer Tony Simerly told the zoning commission in October that both studies showed negligible differences in the amount of traffic coming in and out of the Montgomery Plaza complex.
Representatives for KIMCO Realty pledged to work with the condo owners to address their concerns about traffic.
Chris Herman, director of development for KIMCO, presented a letter of understanding at the October zoning commission signed by some homeowners. The letter commits KIMCO to address traffic and pedestrian safety, use certain building materials, and provide green space.
But Sinkiewicz said those owners were not authorized to make agreements on behalf of the condo complex, and that KIMCO would still have to deal with his organization before moving forward.
Despite what Sinkiewicz called “creative tensions” between KIMCO and the homeowners association, he held out hope that an agreement that addresses concerns about traffic could be reached soon.
“We live here, and we want to make sure this place is the best it can be,” he said.
If Beck continues the case, the earliest the City Council could take it up would be Dec. 13.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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