Residents get their first look at what will come to the Evans and Rosedale urban village
A sold-out event for the unveiling of the new renderings for the Evans and Rosedale urban village in the Historic Southside community brought excitement and hope for the Fort Worth community’s future.
The developers, Royal Capital, presented Thursday night at the Bethlehem Center, 951 Evans Ave., what the future of the six-acre area next to the center could be.
The renderings showed mixed-income housing of 184 units with one-, two- and three-bedroom options. The renderings included a walkable community with green space, retail opportunities such as food trucks or restaurants, vendors, social activities for children and adults and other health and wellness options.
“The objective here is to have as many flexible opportunities as we can and to bring the community together as often as we can,” Kevin Newell, founder & CEO of Royal Capital, told residents and stakeholders.
The development will include 247 parking spaces, such as garages and surface lots.
The team is still working on the affordability and rent range for the housing.
Royal Capital and city council member Chris Nettles reassured residents and stakeholders of the Historic Southside that their mission is to have community input and be transparent on additional work they are doing on the project.
“I will tell you that we are very intentional in what’s going to happen on this land,” Nettles said. “And so that’s why, each and every time we go to the second phase, the next phase, we want to come to the community and share with you.”
The city set aside $13.2 million in grants in 2021 to help with construction of the Evans and Rosedale urban village. Roughly $4.2 million of those incentives came from the American Rescue Plan Act, and must be spent by the end of 2024.
Milwaukee-based Royal Capital was chosen to develop the urban village in August after the city fired Dallas-based Hoque Global last December. Hoque Global was unable to secure adequate funding. The company had been hired to build a mixed-use development with 292 apartments and 15,000 square feet of commercial space, originally slated to be completed by 2023.
One mile southeast of downtown Fort Worth, the Historic Southside is one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the city. The neighborhood is situated between Interstate 35W and Riverside Drive, bordered by Vickery Boulevard at its north and East Rosedale Street at its south.
A 2019 study by UT Southwestern found residents of the 76104 ZIP code have the lowest life expectancy in Texas — 66.7 years.
The urban village is planned to be a catalyst for revitalization. It will also coincide with the National Juneteenth Museum, slated to open in 2026, with efforts to be built at the same location as the Southside Community Center at 959 E. Rosedale St.
Johnny Lewis, a longtime Historic Southside resident and former vice president of the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association, said he was impressed by the presentation and previous work done by Royal Capital.
He knew he was not going to get all of the answers he wanted Thursday, but was focused on the security of the area, community investment for young Black entrepreneurs, and mixed-income development.
“They’ve already assured me that one thing that they’ve done in their other projects is they’ve worked with people from the Black community and the Brown community, so that they have a good piece of the pie when money goes in and out of the community,” Lewis said.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 10:19 PM.
