New development might be on horizon near Dickies Arena. What are the city’s plans?
Fort Worth took a small step toward injecting Montgomery Street with a bit more bustle.
City Council members unanimously agreed Feb. 11 to begin the months-long process of redesignating 83.7 acres of industrially-zoned land along the road for commercial use. The roughly half-mile strand linking Dickies Arena to Interstate 30 today is a medley of vacant lots and unrelated businesses, including boot stores and a nut distributor.
Montgomery stretches as far north as West Seventh Street, passing by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the UNT Health Science Center and other Fort Worth landmarks. Macy Hill, the council member who proposed the change, didn’t articulate a specific vision for the street before putting the matter to a vote.
Fort Worth’s most recent comprehensive plan, a collection of maps and graphs drawn up by bureaucrats to chart the city’s growth, designates most of the western half of Montgomery for commercial use and the eastern half for “mixed-use” projects, blends of business and residences.
Macy’s proposal, if adopted by the City Council in April, would partially fulfill those plans. The council member’s rezoning pitch would transform parcels of nominally industrial land on the western side of Montgomery for neighborhood and “intensive” commercial use, with special permits granted to an existing nut retailer, plumbing business, and bar to keep the businesses in compliance.
The two plots slated for rezoning on the opposite side of the street, housing the offices of a grain business and the city’s credit union, will be also repurposed for intensive commercial projects — large retailers, theaters, and hotels among the allowable uses. (Hill’s proposal would ban auto sales or repairs, typically permitted under the zoning category.)
Hill’s proposition coincides with efforts by a Dallas developer to rezone two plots of land just south of Montgomery’s intersection with Trail Drive. Phoenix Property Co., with ties to real estate behemoth Lincoln Property Group, is seeking the city’s permission to develop commercial space and apartments on the existing site of the Montgomery Street Antique Mall and an adjacent patch of grass.
A company representative did not respond to questions about its plans or the mall’s future. Neither the developer nor council member Hill responded to questions about their broader visions for the street and their possible coordination.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 7:17 PM.
