Does Sundance Square have a vision for downtown? Some tenants say they’d love to know
Sundance Square is an institution in Fort Worth.
The 37-square-block business and entertainment district in the heart of downtown, privately owned by billionaires Ed and Sasha Bass since the couple took over sole ownership in 2019, attracts millions of visitors and is known colloquially as Fort Worth’s living room.
Children dart through the plaza’s fountains as their parents try to beat the heat from umbrella-covered tables. Tourists pause for selfies in front of the mirror ball cowboy hat.
On weekends, live music carries through the thick summer air as a dance instructor leads groups in salsa or merengue.
In a city dominated by cars and shopping centers, Sundance Square stands out as a walkable district dotted with unique stores and eateries for tourists and locals alike.
It’s clean and safe, said longtime Fort Worth resident Barry Hunt, who moved to the Metroplex in 1995 after growing up in Los Angeles.
“It’s a model for what cities could be,” he said while visiting the plaza Wednesday.
But over the last four years, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery have appeared to hit the district hard.
Roughly a quarter of its storefronts are closed or empty, according to a recent Star-Telegram survey, and some of the newer small businesses started as part of its Next Big Idea program have struggled.
Nine current and former tenants of Sundance properties, some who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from Sasha Bass, blamed the vacancies on poor management and complained that leadership does not communicate with merchants on leases, marketing strategy or the overall vision for the district.
Other parts of downtown are seeing faster growth with hotels, a new residential high rise, and the expansion of the Texas A&M campus and Convention Center. Meanwhile, the Cultural District is booming with hundreds of millions of dollars of investments in restaurants, luxury hotels and high-end apartments, and a nearly $1 billion expansion of the Stockyards aims to cement that district as the city’s top destination.
Sundance has explained its retail vacancies by pointing to the struggles facing downtowns across the country, as fewer people returned to offices after the pandemic.
When asked about Sundance management’s vision for the downtown district, several current and former tenants struggled to describe it.
Is it to attract locally owned retailers, to do away with chain restaurants? Is the plan to cater to residents, or families with kids in particular? Tourists or convention-goers?
The Star-Telegram reached out to Sundance Square management with questions about the company’s vision, the challenges to fill storefronts and the concerns from tenants about business strategy.
Representatives for the company asked for clarifications to some questions, but did not respond after a follow up call from the Star-Telegram.
They did, however, reach out to several members of the Fort Worth City Council to get quotes about each members’ experiences with Sundance Square in response to this story, according to multiple council members.
Representatives for Sundance intended to share those quotes with the Star-Telegram, council members said.
‘It was MY CHOICE to leave’
Coming out of the pandemic, Sundance Square put a premium on supporting local entrepreneurs. Shops like Urban Plantology, Acadia Coffee, Estelle Colored Glass, Collection Mexicana and Cary O’Keefe jewelry were held up as examples in mid-2021 of what to expect.
However, in the years since, only two stores from that initial cohort — Cary O’Keefe and Collection Mexicana — have their original business owner still running day-to-day operations. Urban Plantology is still open at 308 Main St., but business owner Romy Venegas is no longer involved.
Venegas confirmed she was no longer running the shop but declined to comment further.
A similar situation played out with the 3rd Street Market after owners Trent and Dena Shaskan announced they were stepping away in a February Instagram post. Sundance brought in French-baked goods company Patissery shortly after to run the market, but the collaboration appears to have lasted only a couple of months. The shop is now closed.
3rd Street Market hasn’t posted on Instagram since March 4, and on April 8 Patissery started posting about its partnership with La La Land Kind Cafe in Plano. The Dallas-based coffee shop also plans to open in Fort Worth at 5733 Camp Bowie Blvd., according to a state application.
Representatives for Patissery did not respond to requests for comment.
On July 30, Patrick McGrew, who owned the record store and custom shoe shop Union Station, announced on Instagram he was walking away from the business.
McGrew, who was featured as part of Visit Fort Worth’s “Unexpected Story” ad campaign, wrote in the post that he didn’t want to say too much, but, “I felt the need to tell my real supporters that I am no longer there for many reasons and it was MY CHOICE to leave.”
McGrew didn’t respond to calls and messages for this story.
It’s not clear whether Sundance Square plans to bring in a new owner. A sign posted on the store Aug. 7 said it was closed temporarily for air conditioning repairs but would reopen soon.
Lack of communication
Multiple current and former Sundance Square tenants complained about a lack of communication with management when it comes to renegotiating leases and priorities for the district.
Reata Restaurant owner Mike Micallef cited a lack of communication as contributing to his decision to leave Sundance-owned 310 Houston St. after more than 20 years. The restaurant reopened in July in the ground floor of the nearby Tower building.
The improv comedy troupe Four Day Weekend, which was next to Reata’s former space, saw its lease expire in 2020. The lease then converted to month-to-month, said co-founder David Wilk, who had little interaction with Sundance management for the next four years. It was only after Reata announced it was leaving that Wilk began to worry about his company’s future.
Wilk said he began to reach out to Sundance management to check on his company’s status until he got a call back in May giving a 60-day notice that Four Day Weekend’s lease would end. No reason was given, he said.
Wilk said he would have loved to have stayed in Sundance Square after occupying the space at 312 Houston St. for 27 years.
“It’s meant everything,” he told the Star-Telegram in May. “It’s personally the longest home I’ve ever lived in.”
But Wilk’s comedy troupe was not part of Sundance’s long-term vision, and he’s not sure why.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what the master plan is. I just know we’re not part of it,” he said.
Sundance Square used to be managed jointly with the City Center Towers, but that changed in January 2020 when Ed and Sasha Bass brought in the Dallas-based Henry S. Miller Company, before bringing management back in-house in November 2020 with Sasha Bass taking a more active role.
Merchants used to have regular meetings with Sundance Square staff, said Charles Flach, owner of the Virgin Olive Oiler at 416 Commerce St. That changed with the new management in 2020.
Before then, merchants would get updates on plans and goals for the district. Sundance would do marketing for the stores, he said.
A portion of lease payments are designated for marketing costs, merchants say. Flach believes Sundance hasn’t actively marketed for tenants since Sasha Bass took control.
“I still have a provision in my lease that is not being addressed by Sundance Square. But who’s going to go and sue a billionaire when they have unlimited resources?” he said.
‘You can always leave’
Flach is the only merchant who agreed to be interviewed on the record for this story, but his experience reflects those of others contacted by the Star-Telegram.
Flach said he felt a responsibility to speak openly about Sasha Bass’ treatment of downtown merchants.
“I’m not afraid of her anymore,” he said. “I know I’m not going to be able to stay here after my lease,” which expires in 2026.
According to Flach, Sasha Bass stopped by his olive oil store in 2022 to pick up old parking ticket validation machines. She asked him if he was unhappy as a merchant in Sundance Square. Flach told her he was unhappy, to which Bass responded, “You can always leave and go to Clearfork,” referring to the luxury shopping center six miles southwest of downtown.
Flach said he wished Bass had been more accommodating or tried to work with merchants to understand some of their concerns.
“Her response was just a simple invitation to get out, which is pretty much everyone else’s experience here,” he said.
The Star-Telegram’s questions that Sundance Square managers haven’t responded to included a request for comment about Flach’s statements.
Flach said he hopes to stay somewhere in Fort Worth after his lease ends, but isn’t sure where. He’s opened a second location in downtown Weatherford at 106 Austin Ave.
‘My favorite part in Fort Worth’
Despite triple-digit heat, Sundance Square was alive Wednesday afternoon with visitors.
Carlos and Kim Gamez stopped to watch their two young children play in the plaza fountains on a break from a road trip back to their home in Mount Pleasant.
“Sundance Square is my favorite part of Fort Worth,” Kim Gamez said. Before the pandemic, she and her husband used to love coming at sunset to stroll through downtown before grabbing drinks at Flying Saucer Draught Emporium a block away.
It would be nice to have more affordable dining options, said Oklahoma City resident Russell Davis. But he and other visitors describe the plaza area as serene and peaceful compared to other districts like the Stockyards.
In some ways, it’s a good thing that Sundance Square isn’t bustling, said Fiona Moore, who is visiting Fort Worth from Northern Ireland for the CrossFit Games this week.
“But that’s almost nice, because whenever we come back here, you want somewhere to come back to that’s not as busy,” she said.
This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
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