Fort Worth Stockyards design group seeks consultant

The group assigned to recommend specific design standards and boundaries for the historic Fort Worth Stockyards to the City Council first needs to find a consultant and then figure out who is going to pay the consultant and come up with the cash.

Several members of the Historic Stockyards Design District Task Force tried Thursday night to nail down potential costs of hiring a consultant — a bill the city does not plan to pay — but the estimates varied from about $100,000 to up to $250,000.

Money to pay a consultant would likely come from property and business owners, possibly headed by the Fort Worth Stockyards Business Association, and perhaps a donation from the city, said Dana Burghdoff, deputy director of the city’s planning department.

“I will speak for my group and say I will match whatever the city puts in. So you want to put in $25,000?” asked Don Jury, general partner in the Stockyards 2000.

“It might have to come out of my salary,” replied Burghdoff jokingly.

The task force is supposed to come up with the scope of work for a consultant, get public input on the plan, review the consultant’s work and recommend the final district boundaries, standards and guidelines for the City Council’s consideration by June 30, 2015.

The group, which includes several well-known Stockyards stakeholders such as Hub Baker, Billy Minick and Phillip Murrin, decided to select a consultant at their next meeting, set for Jan. 15.

The task force was created after the City Council in June approved $26 million in tax incentives to the Fort Worth Heritage Development LLC, a $175 million redevelopment project that could bring hotels, residences, offices and livestock auctions to the historic district. That joint venture between the Hickman family, longtime investors and owners of a large portion of the city’s Historic Stockyards in north Fort Worth, and Majestic Realty Co. of California, led to concern that the development could damage the historic integrity of the area.

The planned design standards for the Stockyards, meant to ease those concerns, may regulate such things as building design and materials that can be used, architectural style, parking and walkway design, signage and landscaping.

Craig Cavileer, executive vice president of Majestic Realty Co. and a member of the task force, said his group will start a conceptual master plan for the development on Dec. 15 that could take about four months to complete.

That project, which is scheduled to be completed in three phases, includes property on the north and south sides of East Exchange Avenue between Northeast 23rd and Northeast 28th streets, and the former Swift-Armour packing plant area east of Packers Avenue.

After Thursday’s meeting, Cavileer said that developers hope to triple tourism in the Stockyards and provide a “Disneyland type” of entertainment around the clock.

“We want it where from breakfast to midnight, there is something to do,” he said.

This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Fort Worth Stockyards design group seeks consultant."