Oct 29, 2009
TownPlace Suites Hotel Development Underway At Trinity Bluff
By: Kevin Buchanan
The TownPlace Suites hotel on Samuels Avenue at Trinity Bluff is now underway, if the current state of the former “Fried hicken” store site is any indication. The new TownPlace Suites will be a 140-room four-story development, and is the product of Western International, who also built the Residence Inn in the SoSeven development in the Cultural District.
(That is some powerfully red dirt, by the way.)
The development fits in with the Trinity Bluff master plan, the latest rendition of which that we can find can be see below (note that the adjacent condo tower isn’t being built along with the hotel – presumably, it will come with a stronger economy):
My daughter goes to Nash Elem. there. It is insane the amount of work going on on that street. I commend the 2 houses that refused to sell and are stuck in the middle of that madness. I’m sure that if Struh (et. al) could have bought and torn down Nash he/they would have.
My child attends Nash Elementary as well and we are excited about all of the new activity that is happening. We commend Struhs Co. for making the improvements to the area. Nash elementary, its students and the city of Fort Worth have all benefited from it. So we all have to deal with a little construction traffic for a little while; the benefit to the neighborhood far out weighs the small inconvience we incure.
Time will tell if this is best for the area. I am glad you are happy w/ the way things are changing, but some in the area would sadly disagree. I am sure you read the article about this area in the Startlegram on Sunday. There are some in the neighborhood that feel they are being driven out. Oh well, all in the name of “improvements” I guess…
No area ever stays completely the same. (And I don’t know how much sympathy I have for the owner of those two houses by Villa de Leon – virtually every account I’ve heard has referred to that person as “a slumlord.”) I think that on the whole, the development of Trinity Bluff is a positive thing. Bringing a host of public realm improvements while allowing for a far greater density of housing and the ability to increase Fort Worth’s near-downtown population are always good things. The radical and rapid nature of the development definitely brings something of a shock to people, though.
I personally think those two homes rather ruin the whole area and I don’t have a lot of sympathy for them. The land value of their home has to be enough to easily move somewhere in the low income neighborhoods near-by. They’ve also had a very long time to do so.
I don’t really get the apartments and town homes down the road though – who wants to live with a view looking over a grave yard?
I actually think a graveyard view is kinda cool, but then again, I’m a little weird.
Right now is a hard time for leasing an apartment from the management perspective. Unfortunately, Lincoln Park is only 7% leased and 5% occupied and have been open in a trailer since June 1st. Downtown isn’t seeing the activity it once used to back in 2008. I am hopeful this area keeps turning around and improves. Hopefully the hotel makes an impact. I still think we are looking at another 2-4 years at least.
The hotel concerns me a little. I don’t think run of the mill limited service hotel will really help anything there. We need more quality hotel rooms in well designed buildings rather than generic hotels that are commonly seen along interstates. I haven’t seen a design for the hotel, however those limited service flags are typically very averse to spending on quality, durable design that they think doesn’t translate to higher revenue per room.
I hope they prove me wrong and they don’t construct an eyesore in the gateway to the core of Downtown.
shawnd: Downtown Fort Worth Inc. actively worked to keep Nash Elementary open. See page 7. http://www.dfwi.org/content/Chapter%207-Education.pdf