As Panther Island development progresses, an advisory panel works to preserve Northside
An advisory panel will explore questions regarding Fort Worth Northside residents’ concerns on displacement, housing affordability, and preservation as the development of Panther Island moves forward.
The Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Urban Land Institute Advisory Services Program, with the support of the City of Fort Worth, local foundations and key business leaders, have gathered national experts in Cowtown for a week-long workshop focused on equitable development strategies for the Panther Island area. It will give special attention to preserving the historic Northside and Marine neighborhoods.
“We want to ensure that those that call Northside home, those that have been here for generations, feel like they’re a part of that success and that storytelling that will take place here as you see a revitalization of the effort,” said Mayor Mattie Parker, at a press conference in front of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce office Monday afternoon.
The Urban Land Institute Advisory Services Program gathers real estate professionals to provide a set of impactful recommendations to address economic development and revitalization, housing attainability, community resilience and more.
The workshop will also address critical issues such as housing affordability, potential household displacement, and the preservation of the Northside’s unique historical character during rapid urban expansion.
There will be eight panelists from Urban Land Institute who will spend the week speaking with residents, business owners, and stakeholders in the Northside. The panelists will ask five main questions: minimizing displacement, affordable housing, business diversity, historic and cultural preservation, and implementation.
The Urban Land Institute will take the information they gather and present their recommendations to the public at 8 a.m. Friday at Artes De La Rosa at the Rose Marine Theater, 1440 N Main St.
“The idea is to take the best practices that you can to give you a roadmap for how to do development the right way, or how to do it in a really smart and thoughtful way, and then it’ll last generations,” said Omar Gonzalez, Director of Development for Oxbow Development Group, at the Monday conference.
Panther Island is a planned waterfront district that is the byproduct of the 1.5-mile channel being built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The channel will connect two sections of the Trinity River north of downtown as a way to improve the city’s flood protection.
In May, the Fort Worth City Council voted to contribute $37,500 to the Hispanic Chamber-led study of development on Panther Island. The money is part of a $230,000 study looking at ways to preserve neighborhoods while limiting displacement in neighborhoods surrounding the planned 338-acre man-made island north of downtown.
Other funders include the Amon G. Carter Foundation, the North Texas Community Foundation and the urban planning nonprofit Urban Land Institute’s national and Fort Worth district branches.
The boundaries of the Historic Northside District stretch roughly along North Main Street from Grand Avenue to Exchange Avenue and from Lincoln Avenue and to the railroad tracks east of North Main.
In July, the chamber wrapped up a survey to get feedback on what residents, businesses owners and visitors see as important to preserve or change in the Historic Northside District. The goal is for the community to have its own commercial corridor and possibly a standalone organization to represent the corridor similar to Near Southside Inc. or the Camp Bowie District.
Anette Landeros, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber, says the survey and the Urban Land Institute’s recommendations will guide them on how to better communicate with residents as new development occur in their neighborhood from Panther Island, the Stockyards, and The Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing.
“We believe that we don’t want to just wait for the area to change,” Landeros said to the Star Telegram. “We need to make sure that we are a part of the conversation.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2024 at 7:00 PM.
