Tarrant Regional Water District to vote on acquiring land for Panther Island channel
The Tarrant Regional Water District board will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize the agency to buy four lots just north of the West 7th district and east of Montgomery Plaza.
The lots from 309-321 Greenleaf St. are a little more than half an acre and valued at $559,840, according to information from the Tarrant Appraisal District.
Details of the purchase were not immediately available, but it’s expected this land will make way for the channel connecting the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River as part of the broader Central City Flood Control Project.
The 1.5-mile bypass channel would create an 800-acre island. Panther Island, just north of downtown, is intended to be a mixed-used district housing 10,000 residents with plenty of shops and offices.
“To protect the district’s planning and negotiating position, the terms of a real estate transaction to be considered by the Board are generally not provided to the public prior to the final consideration or approval of such transaction,” TRWD spokesperson Chad Lorance said in an email Monday.
It’s not the first time gym owner Zia Ali said he’s been approached about the space. TRWD approached him in 2015 to buy him out of his lease after he reached out to the agency about water damage leaking in from a neighboring property.
His landlord Bryan Gaines wouldn’t comment on the proposed purchase while negotiations are still under way.
Ali said he always knew he would need to move eventually, but thought it would be further down the line following delays in the construction of the three Panther Island bridges.
He’s had difficulty finding a space with the right size, location and price compared to where he’s situated now next to Montgomery Plaza and the area’s relatively new apartment complexes.
“Right now I’m up a creek without a paddle,” Ali said.
Sammie Peters, who owns and runs Fred Cheek Monuments across the street, said she and her neighbors held out against offers from land speculators looking to purchase their properties ahead of the planned channel.
“We’re too close to the railroad and the oil well for them to build the channel on this side,” Peters said. She quipped she’d open a bait shop when the channel was finally built.
The Texas Department of Transportation began constructing the bridges over dry land in 2015. They were expected to be completed in 2018, but construction delays and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the completion until 2021.
The last bridge at Henderson Street opened on Oct. 16.
The TRWD Board will meet at the agency’s headquarters, at 800 E. Northside Drive, on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
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