No good choicesfor T&P Warehouse

It’s hard to say if the designation of the Texas & Pacific Warehouse in downtown Fort Worth as one of the state’s Most Endangered Places will have any real impact on its future.

The 84-year-old art deco-style rail freight warehouse has been a landmark of Lancaster Avenue since its construction in 1931.

But it’s also been vacant for decades and siphoning money away from the city. This despite grandiose plans for its future, including the latest attempt to renovate the eight-story, 500,000-square-foot building into about 350 apartments, shops and restaurants.

Unfortunately, like the building itself, those plans are in danger.

The Lancaster Tax Increment Finance board designated the building eligible to receive TIF funding in 2007, agreeing to pay for $9.2 million in public improvements.

But the TIF, created more than a decade ago to help redevelop Lancaster Avenue, agreed to provide the funding only if the building owner completed “milestones,” including having construction financing for at least $35 million of the project.

Construction never commenced, even after multiple extensions from the TIF board.

Fort Worth Councilman Jungus Jordan is right when he says this building is important. It’s part of the city’s history. But he’s also correct in challenging the city “to take a truthful look at it and see if it can truly be redeveloped into something we can be proud of.” And as we consider the city’s best use of resources, that’s an important question.

It would be a shame if the warehouse were demolished. But that might not be a worse fate than observing a slow, painful and expensive erosion.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 7:25 PM with the headline "No good choicesfor T&P Warehouse."