May 15, 2007
Museum Place Development Group, Ltd. Strikes Economic Development Agreement With City of Fort Worth
Museum Place Development Group, Ltd. (MPDG) announces today that the Fort Worth City Council has approved an Economic Development Agreement for Museum Place. The Museum Place development will serve as a model for central city redevelopment projects. It is a direct reflection of the City’s Commercial Corridors Plan, Urban Village Program and Mixed-Use Zoning Ordinance.
MPDG started acquiring land and working on infrastructure issues more than five years ago. The complexity of the development and the goals of the City’s Commercial Corridors Plan provided the perfect opportunity for the two to work together to institute a tax sharing program.
“We are very pleased with the support provided by the City of Fort Worth. The city’s investment will allow us to create a development that complements the Cultural District and allows the area to live up to its true potential,” said Richard F. Garvey, Museum Place Development Group president and co-developer. “The deal also benefits the City of Fort Worth through new taxes and jobs. It’s a great example of a private-public partnership to redevelop the central city.”
As part of the negotiations to complete the economic development agreement, MPDG agreed to spend portions of the hard construction costs of each phase with Fort Worth contractors and certified Fort Worth minority and women-business contractors. In addition, the Agreement provides that an affordable housing component will be included in the residential offerings of the development. MPDG believes that this is the first time a quality affordable housing provision has been included in an economic development agreement of this type.
Encompassing 11 acres, Museum Place will include 173,000 square feet of specialty retail and dining, 130,000 square feet of class A office space, 550,000 square feet of residential development, with approximately 500 units, and an upscale boutique hotel. Museum Place is the redevelopment of several existing central city blocks that were once a thriving commercial and residential neighborhood.
When complete, Museum Place will be a pedestrian-friendly urban development, with public plazas, open spaces, abundant on-street parking and wide, tree-lined sidewalks. Exciting retail, multiple restaurants and a boutique hotel will help generate a lively street scene. With the completion of the City Incentive Package, the project will now be able to break ground on the first phase next month and is targeted for completion in 2009. Museum Place Development Group, Ltd., developer of the project, is an affiliate of JaGee Holdings, LLP, a Fort Worth company that owns and manages more than one million square feet of retail and industrial real estate and TLCurban, a Fort Worth-based development company, developer of The Tower and Chase Building in Fort Worth.