Stockyards task force still finding consensus difficult

More than two months after a special task force charged with creating design standards and guidelines for redevelopment in the Historic Stockyards District began meeting, the group adjourned Wednesday, again having taken only a vote to table discussion.

For more than two hours, the group discussed height restrictions for new construction on the west and east sides of Main Street, as well as to the north along Stockyards Boulevard and the south side of East Exchange Avenue, only to have those sometimes emotional discussions fall apart for lack of agreement.

And in the end, the task force asked consultant Randy Gideon, hired to help the group prepare the Stockyards Design Overlay District document, to look at alternatives to the boundaries he suggested of where three-story buildings should be allowed.

“The economic viability of the Stockyards is not to build a wall in the middle of it,” said Don Jury, a task force member and Stockyards property owner. “I don’t think tall buildings belong in the Stockyards.”

Jury controls about 40 acres in the Stockyards, including 16 acres on the far east side of Exchange Avenue.

The group’s frustration became more evident when Craig Cavileer asked Jury if he was ready to present his development plans.

Cavileer is an executive vice president with Majestic Realty Group, which has partnered with Fort Worth’s Hickman family to develop 70 acres that the Hickmans own in the Stockyards.

At a May task force meeting, Cavileer challenged Jury and Steve Murrin, another Stockyards property owner, to share their ideas for property they own. Cavileer reminded Jury that he had pledged to do so and was scheduled to do that at Wednesday’s meeting.

Jury said he didn’t recall making that promise.

Cavileer presented a master plan on July 14, two weeks early, because the group was asked to do so, he said.

“We presented our plans. In fact, we did it early,” Cavileer said. “I feel like we have one hand out there.”

Philip Murrin, Steve Murrin’s son, presented some plans regarding their property, saying they plan to invest $25 million over the next five years, including this year rebuilding the 1920’s Masonic Lodge Building at 2448 N. Main St., into a restaurant. A rear wall of the building collapsed in a storm in October.

In addition, the Murrins are in the midst of “a humongous renovation” of the River Ranch center on Northeast 23rd Street and will repair the facades of other buildings, he said.

“We still have some work to do, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” Murrin said.

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Stockyards task force still finding consensus difficult."