Does this Fort Worth neighborhood need a boutique hotel?
A Fort Worth businessman is hoping capitalize on Dickies Arena with a boutique hotel planned a short walk away, but neighbors worry it will bring parking woes to Arlington Heights.
The Fort Worth City Council Tuesday will consider a zoning change that will allow the hotel to move forward.
Jonathan Morris, owner of Fort Worth Barber Shop and The Lathery, purchased the former dry ice warehouse at 3621 Byers last year with his wife, Kathrine, and business partner Allen Mederos. Under their venture, MeMo Hospitality, they plan to opearte a 19-room boutique hotel aimed at younger visitors.
The group hopes to attract travelers who don’t stay at typical hotels and prefer Airbnb-style lodging, Morris said in December. Creative types, millennial travelers and anyone who might choose an Airbnb room for its price and city neighborhood feel are among the target demographic, but he said the hotel won’t be too high-end that it becomes unaffordable.
The hotel also features a 600-square-foot lobby bar.
Arlington Heights residents have said they’re worried about the bar and parking at the hotel.
Brenda Helmer told the city’s zoning commission the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association would support the hotel if removed the bar component and if the building was reoriented to place the parking lot away from the neighborhood, according to city records.
Two parking lots hold a total of 34 spaces, but residents worry the bar will attract more visitors than the hotel has room for.
A stand alone bar or hotel are allowed on the site, which is zoned light industrial. However, because of nearby homes, a zoning change to neighborhood commercial is necessary.
Architect Michael Bennett said the bar was moved to the east, facing away from the neighborhood, but parking couldn’t be changed without losing spaces.
Artist renderings show the property, which rises above street level, graded down to be inline with Byers Avenue’s slope. With the elevation change, the building won’t rise above homes farther down the street, even though it has three stories, Bennett said. The structure will stand about 36 feet above the street and will fit nearly on the footprint of the vacant dry ice building.
The city’s zoning commission and staff have recommended approval, saying the hotel is compatible with land use and planning.
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Does this Fort Worth neighborhood need a boutique hotel?."
