Fort Worth Looking To Land 4-Star Hotel Next To Arts District
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - The Fort Worth City Council is trying to put the finishing touches on a deal to land a 4-star hotel in one of the city's fastest growing areas.
Developers want to put a 12-story hotel right next to the Arts District and the booming Seventh Street area, in the 3300 block of Camp Bowie Blvd.
The $47 million project would add 200 hotel rooms, a restaurant and retail space to the area. The city is considering about $8 million in tax abatements over 16 years, but that figure is up for debate.
"We'll probably do that this afternoon for the first part of next week, get those text incentives in line," said Councilman Dennis Shingleton who represents the area. "Most of the time when you have a hotel of this caliber they're looking for some sort of moderate abatement. And we're ready to provide that at this location."
Planners say it's all part of a larger scheme to build around the city's new special events arena near Will Rogers Coliseum.
"Absolutely, because this hotel is in the circle that we get state reimbursement to support the arena project," Shingleton said. "So all of this works together. This is not an unplanned event."
There are questions about the hotel's height. The city would have to allow a special building code exemption to build that tall a building near the arts district.
But businesses at the fringe of the Seventh Street development say they're ready for more foot traffic a hotel would bring and curious about what competition it might bring as well.
"Its a good thing for us," said Mike Bray, manager of World of Beers which sits across the street from the lot where the hotel would be built. "Its going to bring nothing but more foot traffic, more business. I'm curious to see what kind of food and beverage they're going to have inside the hotel to know just how much exactly were going to get, or retain coming over from the hotel."
If completed on time, the hotel would open in the late summer of 2019.
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