Fort Worth OKs boutique hotel, but some in this neighborhood are worried
A small scale boutique hotel designed to compete with Airbnb-like lodging will move forward near Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena despite some opposition from the surrounding neighborhood.
A 19-room boutique hotel aimed at attracting younger visitors is in the works near Montgomery Street and Byers Avenue, almost directly across from the arena slated to open this fall. 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.
The group hopes to attract travelers who don’t stay at typical hotels, 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.
Morris said Tuesday he hoped the hotel would have a positive impact on the neighborhood and looked at it as way showcase the city to visitors.
“This hotel will be a way to introduce Fort Worth to the people and places that we love,” Morris said.
More than a dozen people spoke in favor of Morris and his plan, mostly Arlington Heights residents or Morris’ friends. Council members, including Dennis Shingleton who represents the neighborhood, also spoke highly of the effort. Shingleton said he had told residents he would vote along with the will of the neighborhood, but hoped concerns would be worked out before construction started.
Tuesday’s unanimous vote only changes the property’s zoning.
But many in the neighborhood are worried about increased traffic and noise, especially from the 600-square foot lobby bar.
Brenda Helmer, president of the Arlington Heights Neighborhood, said Arlington Heights would support the hotel if the parking was moved to Montgomery.
“There’s got to be a better way,” she said.
Two parking lots hold a total of 34 spaces, more than enough for the 19 rooms and the square footage of the lobby bar, according to city documents. But residents say it should face away from the neighborhood.
Helmer said many Arlington Heights residents who spoke highly of the development live more than a mile away and would not be impacted. She said she worried about the residents who live in a row of recently constructed, high-dollar townhouses.
Architect Michael Bennett said the bar was moved to the east, facing away from the neighborhood, but parking couldn’t be changed without a cost of more than $180,000 and the loss of parking spaces. A fence will buffer the west side of the property.
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.
Bennett said the hotel could serve as an example of how incremental zoning along Montgomery could buffer the neighborhood from what might become a “large bar district” next to Dickies Arena.
This story was originally published March 5, 2019 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Fort Worth OKs boutique hotel, but some in this neighborhood are worried."
