825-unit, five-story apartment complex proposed near heart of Fort Worth Stockyards
Developers are proposing an 825-unit apartment complex in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards, a first of its kind major residential development in the historic district.
The multimillion dollar Kairoi Residential project would include five apartment buildings on the east end of Exchange Avenue, at the site of the former Armour & Co. Packing Plant just beyond where the Stockyards start its daily cattle drives for tourists. The roughly 19-acre tract of mostly vacant land is between Packers Street and the railroad tracks.
The San Antonio-based developers are awaiting approval on a building permit from the city of Fort Worth. Kairoi Residential has a portfolio of developments across the country and with more than $6.3 billion in transactions since 2003.
The Stockyards project would feature five-story apartment buildings with an outdoor courtyard, a fourth-floor sky lounge and fitness center. The proposal would transform the one remaining Armour building on the property into offices.
The development plans are still being reviewed, according to City Council member Carlos Flores.
This is not the first time developers have looked at transforming the historic Armour property. In 2017, the Fort Worth City Council approved $1 million in incentives to turn the former plant into a $21 million, four-star Armour Hotel with 120 rooms. That project never came to fruition, but in 2021 the Hotel Drover opened along the redeveloped Mule Alley with new shops and restaurants off Exchange Avenue.
The Armour meatpacking plant opened in 1903 alongside the Swift & Co. plant and closed in 1962. Bunge Edible Oil refined soybean and corn oil there for more than 30 years.
Representatives of Kairoi Residential and Merriman Anderson Architects did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Steve Murrin, a former city councilman whose family redeveloped the stockyards into what it is today, said the proposed apartments could be an economic driver for the district’s restaurants, bars and shops.
“I would like to see some high end residential apartments go in there,” Murrin said. “Because that brings the economy up in the whole neighborhood, which is the National Historic District.”
The property has an appraised value of more than $350,000, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District. Construction of Kairoi Stockyards is estimated to begin in 2023 and conclude in mid-2025, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The complex would be more than 440,000 square feet.
Kairoi Residential manages $1.4 billion in assets including acquisitions of Cameron Creek, Township Hulen Bend and Park West complexes. While the company has two developments near downtown Dallas, the Stockyards property will be its first new development in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published July 19, 2022 at 3:18 PM.
