Government Market News StaffDowntown Fort Worth has changed significantly in the past 10 years, transitioning from mostly office buildings to residential high-rises. To help guide the area’s future, city council members recently heard a $2.5 billion 10-year plan that calls for more housing, public spaces and public transportation.
Plan 2033 aims to create more opportunities for small businesses and residents while enhancing the city’s overall development. It recommends several strategies for improving downtown:
- Establishing a new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district to replace the current TIF that expires in 2025.
- Promoting development on city-owned land.
- Enhancing the convention center area, including improvements to a nearby park and creating public spaces.
- Reviewing and adjusting city policies on street closures during public events as well as event permitting.
- Conducting a downtown parking study and making necessary adjustments to other strategic plans associated with downtown.
If adopted by the city council, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., a nonprofit planning and project management organization, will oversee the plan’s implementation.
As it does every decade, the city implemented its current strategic plan in 2013. Since then, the area has added more than 2,000 housing units, and 3,000 more are expected soon. To encourage further residential development, Plan 2033 calls for incentivizing high-density housing near entertainment areas while encouraging townhomes and other types of housing. Affordable housing units should make up 15% of all future residential projects, the plan says.
Plan 2033 also recommends creating or redesigning parks and other public spaces, while making structures like parking garages and highway underpasses more attractive.
