Jul 8, 2010 5

Potential Streetcar Alignments Being Studied

By: Kevin Buchanan

The city has released some documents from HDR, Inc.’s current planning work on Fort Worth’s modern streetcar system, and one of the documents gives some more depth, information, and details on the potential starter alignments being considered and how they’re being measured.  It’s important to note that at this stage of planning, the routes are not set in stone.  There are several potential starter routes for the first phase of the modern streetcar system, and each is being evaluated according to a set of criteria.  The end result might be one of these lines, or it might be a combination of parts of lines.  These answers will come from the study currently underway by HDR, Inc. that is providing a blueprint for our modern streetcar system.  This information comes from publicly-available planning documents posted to the City of Fort Worth’s official streetcar project web site, available as a PDF at the following link:  DRAFT Technical Memorandum – Alignment Refinement.

The criteria that the potential starter routes are being measured against come from factors in successful streetcar systems in other cities, and the goals and issues that a Fort Worth solution could be designed to address.  The criteria are focused on improving the development and mobility situation in Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods.  They reflect the objectives of the project as told to HDR, based on meetings with City of Fort Worth officials and staff, organizations like Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and Fort Worth South, Inc., and the city’s Modern Streetcar Task Force.

The sort of criteria that these routes are being measured against include:

  • Existing and anticipated population in the alignment corridor
  • Existing and anticipated employment in the alignment corridor
  • Major destinations served
  • Developable land
  • Potential yield from TIF and other locally-generated sources
  • Assessed value base
  • Compatibility with city and TIF district plans
  • Relative lack of engineering or traffic management constraints
  • Estimated ridership
  • Capital and operating costs
  • Public and stakeholder support

The following routes are being screened against these criteria.  Each is being analyzed as a potential stand-alone Phase 1 of the streetcar system.  It’s expected that, once the evaluations are complete, potential combinations of these lines could also emerge as a starter project, but the initial evaluation is of each route alone.  Note also that these descriptions are of the starter routes and do not include potential extensions to each route.

You’ll note that most of the lines include several segments that are the same as the other lines.  HDR’s plans showcase how the starter lines can build together over time into a network, and how they can share most of the same trackage in Downtown.

Click on the routes for a larger view.

West 7th

The West 7th alignment is 3.0 miles end-to-end.  From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns northbound and heads to 6th.  At 6th, the line turns westbound on 6th to Cherry, where it makes a slight right to merge from westbound 6th to westbound 7th.  The line heads westbound on 7th to Montgomery, where it then heads southbound to Camp Bowie, the terminus of the line.  It heads back into Downtown using the same route – northbound on Montgomery, then eastbound on 7th – until it reaches Henderson.  At Henderson, the line turns northbound on Henderson, then eastbound on 3rd.  After heading eastbound on 3rd, the line turns southbound on Calhoun before turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.

North Main

The North Main alignment is 1.4 miles end-to-end.  From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns northbound.  It heads northbound on Commerce through Belknap & Weatherford and makes the merge onto North Main past the Tarrant County Courthouse.  The line crosses the Paddock Viaduct (North Main bridge) where it is then envisioned that it would be integrated into the Trinity Uptown master plan.  One option, shown here, would have the line turn onto a reconstructed Commerce and head north before turning westbound on NE 6th and then southbound on North Main to head back to Downtown.  Once across the Paddock Viaduct, the line would merge from the bridge onto southbound Houston and continue southbound to 3rd, where it would turn eastbound and head to Calhoun.  At Calhoun, the line would turn southbound and head to 9th, turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.

Trinity Bluffs

The Trinity Bluffs alignment is 1.4 miles end-to-end.  From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns and heads northbound to 6th.  At 6th, the line turns westbound and heads to 7th, where it heads further westbound to Henderson.  It turns and heads northbound on Henderson to 3rd, where it turns and runs eastbound.  Upon reaching Pecan, the line turns northbound and heads to Bluff, then eastbound to Samuels.  It runs northbound on Samuels to the Cold Springs intersection, the terminus of the line.  It then heads back to Downtown via Samuels, Bluff, and Pecan.  At Pecan & 4th, it turns and heads westbound to Calhoun.  The line then runs southbound on Calhoun to 9th, turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.

Near Southside – Jennings Option

There are two potential Near Southside alignments being considered at this time.  This is the Jennings option, which is 2.0 miles end-to-end.  The Jennings option heads southbound on Houston from 3rd.  At 9th, the line cuts over to Throckmorton headed southbound, then further over to Jennings.  It heads southbound on Jennings past Lancaster and under the railroad tracks and I-30, continuing southbound on Jennings to Pennsylvania.  The line then heads westbound on Pennsylvania to Henderson, turning southbound on Henderson to Terrell.  The line turns westbound on Terrell to 6th Avenue, the terminus of the line.  It heads back into Downtown eastbound and northbound via the same route – Terrell, Henderson, Pennsylvania, and Jennings – before reaching Throckmorton and heading northbound to 3rd, heading eastbound on 3rd back to Houston to head back to the Near Southside.  It is important to note that the Jennings option does not directly serve the ITC, but provides a connection to the TRE and the future SW2NE train at the Texas & Pacific Station.

Near Southside – South Main Option

The second potential Near Southside alignment is the South Main option, which is 3.2 miles end-to-end.  This alignment leaves the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones heading westbound on 9th.  It turns and heads northbound on Commerce then westbound on 6th.  It then turns and heads southbound on Houston, crossing Lancaster, the railroad tracks, and I-30 then merging southbound onto South Main.  The line heads southbound on South Main to Magnolia.  It turns and heads westbound on Magnolia to 7th Avenue, where it turns northbound and heads to Terrell, the terminus of the line.  It heads back into Downtown via the same route – 7th Avenue, Magnolia, and South Main – then turns eastbound towards Jones after crossing the railroad tracks, I-30, and Lancaster.  It then turns northbound on Jones and heads back to the ITC at 9th & Jones, where it would then turn westbound onto 9th to head back out.

Near Southside & Rosedale/East Side – Rosedale Alignment

The Rosedale line is 2.2 miles end-to-end.  It leaves the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones heading westbound on 9th.  It turns and heads northbound on Commerce then westbound on 6th.  It then turns and heads southbound on Houston, crossing Lancaster, the railroad tracks, and I-30 then merging southbound onto South Main.  The line heads southbound on South Main to Rosedale.  It turns eastbound on Rosedale to Evans, which is the terminus of the line.  It heads back into Downtown via the same route – Rosedale and South Main – then turns eastbound towards Jones after crossing the railroad tracks, I-30, and Lancaster.  It then turns northbound on Jones and heads back to the ITC at 9th & Jones, where it would then turn westbound onto 9th to head back out.

Again, let us stress that these alignment options are still being measured against the design criteria.  The exact starter alignment has not yet been selected, and may in fact be a combination of elements of multiple alignments.  We’ll have more as the study by HDR continues.  For more information on this process, head to the City of Fort Worth’s official streetcar project web site, where this data is available to the public as a PDF at the following link:  DRAFT Technical Memorandum – Alignment Refinement.

May 21, 2010 10

Urban Living Tour – Villa De Leon

By: Kevin Buchanan

We’ve at last had the opportunity to walk through Villa de Leon, the (very) high-end condo midrise in the Trinity Bluff neighborhood in Uptown looking out over the river from its perch on the west side of Samuels Avenue.  We looked at two units – a huge one on the downtown-facing side and a slightly smaller unit on the Samuels Avenue side, both on the fourth floor.

Villa de Leon is pretty comfortably the most expensive development we’ve ever looked at here on the site – but having finally been inside it, we think it is absolutely justified in that price level.  The units at Villa de Leon feel every penny of their low-$800,000s-to-low-$2-millions price tags.  Materials, finishes, and designs simply drip with the feel of quality.  It doesn’t have the “looks expensive, feels cheap” nature of your typical big, pricey pseudo-mansion out in the ‘burbs – developer Tom Struhs has really put a lot of obvious attention and care into his flagship development, which is also reflected in the slow-and-steady way he’s been selling units in the building.  He’s not built it and then become desperate to move units as the economy worsened – one gets the feeling that Struhs has planned all along that VDL was in it for the long haul.  While one may or may not like the uber-posh design of the units (we have a feeling a lot of Fort Worthology readers are of the “loft” mindset), Villa de Leon is one of the few pricey developments around here that feels as classy as its price tag demands.

We also love the way Villa de Leon stands out amongst the fledgling Trinity Bluff neighborhood that Struhs is putting together – it’s the tallest and by far most expensive development in the project thus far, surrounded by far more affordable (though higher-end) for-sale townhomes (the Palisades) and rental apartments & townhomes (Lincoln Trinity Bluff, Lincoln Park at Trinity Bluff), along with the new Marriott-branded hotel.  We hear some odd remarks about VDL’s place amongst the more affordable projects, but to our minds that is one of the best things about it – it makes Trinity Bluff already feel like a much more interesting and genuine place despite its young age by not being so homogenous.  In classic urban neighborhoods around the world, affordable, mid-range, and high-end residences mix comfortably together thanks to compatible scale and forms, and we think Struhs gets that this is not only possible, but desirable.

As one might expect at this level, Villa de Leon’s amenities list is quite large.  There’s a 24-hour concierge, a huge terrace at the lower level with pool, fountain, and outdoor kitchen, the de Leon Room on the lower level for entertaining and relaxing (complete with its own kitchen and piano), a resident fitness center, high-speed elevators, underground secure parking (and kudos to Struhs for burying the parking to keep the building’s street presence people-focused), hardwood floors in a variety of materials (including bamboo), fireplaces, massive walk-in closets, elaborate kitchens, granite counters, solid-core doors throughout, and more.

The residences feature multitudes of windows and impressive views.  The downtown/river side is, of course, spectacular (and will only get better as the Trinity River Vision’s central city/Trinity Uptown project moves forward), but we also enjoy the Samuels views now that there’s some density along the street.  As Trinity Bluff infills further, the neighborhood view will become pretty cool in its own right.

Click through our gallery and enjoy some shots from in and around Villa de Leon.  For the curious, the floor plans we looked at were the Pioneer and the Fort.

For more information, check out Villa de Leon’s web site.  The building is located in Uptown, in the Trinity Bluff neighborhood, on Samuels Avenue right next door to Charles Nash Elementary.  Developer:  Tom Struhs.  Architect:  Ames Fender.

May 21, 2010 4

Trinity River Vision Presentation At Villa De Leon

By: Kevin Buchanan

Yesterday, the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance had a get-together at the luxurious Villa de Leon condo building over in Uptown’s Trinity Bluff neighborhood, and JD Granger from the Trinity River Vision was on hand to give a presentation on the latest TRV news & info.  Here are a couple of photos from the presentation – JD talked about the progress on the bypass channel, the new bridge designs, Trinity Trail improvement projects around University/Rogers and the Naval Air Station, and many other aspects of the project.  More updates on TRV projects are coming soon.

Apr 28, 2010 4

New Trinity River Vision Bridge Designs Unveiled

By: Kevin Buchanan

After abandoning the former Bing Thom designs as being too costly, the Trinity River Vision has three new bridge designs by Rosales + Partners (who are also doing the design of the Lancaster Avenue pedestrian/bike bridge further south).

The new designs are said to take design inspiration from the Y-columns of Tadao Ando’s Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and represent a significant cost reduction:  the new bridges total at a projected cost of $65 million.  When factoring in land acquisition and other expenses, that goes to $110 million – still $45 million less than the Bing Thom designs, according to the Star-Telegram.

It’s hard to tell from the renderings shown thus far, but it appears that the bridges feature wide, separate sidepaths for bikes and pedestrians, similar to bridge designs in more bike-friendly cities.  In addition, the North Main and Henderson bridges are apparently designed to accommodate streetcar tracks in the future.

Click the thumbnails for a larger view:

Jan 27, 2010 8

Trinity Bluff – Lincoln Park, Villa de Leon Photos

By: Kevin Buchanan

The latest phases of the Trinity Bluff development in Uptown – the super-lux Villa de Leon condos, and Lincoln’s new rental developments Lincoln Park Townhomes and Lincoln Park Apartments – are pretty well finished, so here’s some fairly recent photos showing off their completed look & arrangement.

Of the three, we think we like the apartment building the best for some reason.  It hangs together pretty well for a big apartment block, and the slanty treatments add a little freshness to it.  That’s just our preference – what do you all think of the three newly finished additions to Trinity Bluff?

Jan 4, 2010 Comments Off

TownePlace Suites at Trinity Bluff Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

The TownPlace Suites at Trinity Bluff in Uptown has topped out and exterior wrap work is underway.  The hotel will feature 140 rooms, tucked into a lot at Elm & Belknap next to the Palisades townhomes and Lincoln Trinity Bluff apartments.  The hotel appears to basically be a suburban hotel turned 180 degrees from the street – this keeps the parking off the main pedestrian streets of the development, though it’s a little disappointing more won’t be done to create an engaging streetscape.  Considering the site’s location at the edge of the development and nestled up against a bridge, though, it shouldn’t do all that much to hurt the pedestrian experience of the neighborhood.

Dec 7, 2009 Comments Off

Trinity Bluff TownPlace Suites Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Here’s a quick look at the TownPlace Suites hotel being built in the Trinity Bluff development. The hotel occupies the site that formerly held the long-running “Fried hicken” store. Work crews are up to the second floor of the structure, tucked in near the Belknap bridge next to the Lincoln Trinity Bluff apartments and Palisades townhomes.

Design-wise, the hotel appears to be a rather conventional suburban-style hotel, turned 180 degrees so that the parking is to the rear. It’s good that the parking is out back in this context, but we would have hoped for a bit more engaging street presence than a plain wall of hotel rooms. It could be worse – the site plan showed parking in front as well.

At the rate the hotel is progressing, it shouldn’t be much longer before the building reaches its full height.

Oct 29, 2009 9

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):

Oct 28, 2009 4

Lawrence Halprin, Heritage Park Designer, Dies

By: Kevin Buchanan

Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, one of the most creative voices in designing urban public space, passed away on Sunday at his home in California at the age of 93 from complications from a fall.

Halprin was a prolific designer, and created some of the most unique modernist public spaces in the United States. He studied how the human body moves and behaves in spatial settings, especially using dancers and choreography thanks to his wife and longtime collaborator Anna, who was a dancer. This sense of poetic movement found its way into his work, which exhibits strong relationships to human scale. Halprin devised his own landscape drawing system, which he called “motation” (motion and notation).

Several of Halprin’s projects have been demolished over time, and several more are in states of disrepair.

We have personally experienced two of Halprin’s designs, one of which is in dire condition and the other is gloriously restored and beloved. Of course, the one in disrepair is also the one Halprin did here in Fort Worth: Heritage Park, on the Trinity River bluff in Downtown.

All of Halprin’s designs reflect this passion to give people as many options as possible to go this way or that, to reverse directions, to pause, to start over, to be alone, to meet others, and to experience as many different sights, smells and sounds as the site permits.”

–Benjamin Forgey, The Smithsonian, 1988

Heritage Park’s quiet, meditative spaces and interplay of paths and “rooms” are classic Halprin. It’s not too difficult to imagine, as you walk through the park, how engaging it all would be if it were fully restored and taken care of by the city, rather than closed, dried-up, and left to decay and be overtaken by out-of-control landscaping. We were fortunate enough to make our first visits to Heritage Park before it was closed, and even in its run-down condition it felt very special. At one point, the city hired Carter + Burgess to come up with a plan to restore the park, and their response was to destroy the park’s character and integrity by slathering it with railings and other incompatible design features that were in complete opposition to Halprin’s lifelong intent of direct engagement between visitors and his works. Fortunately, Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and other interested parties are now leading the way with a fundraising effort to carry out a restoration of Heritage Park that is sensitive to Halprin’s design, thanks to a collaboration with Laurie Olin, fellow landscape architect and friend of Halprin’s.

We’ve written a lot about Heritage Park in the past, and here are a few selections, including our three-park exclusive look at Halprin’s original design sketches of Heritage Park and the Trinity waterfront:

Heritage Park, “Insulted and Humiliated” – July 2008
An Update on Heritage Park – February 2009
Heritage Park now slightly less closed – August 2009
Designing Heritage Park: Inside the Halrpin Archives, Part One: Alternate Sites and Designs
Designing Heritage Park: Inside the Halprin Archives, Part Two: Oddities Along the River, Leonard’s Subway Extension, and More
Designing Heritage Park: Inside the Halprin Archives, Part Three: The Design Comes Together

As you advance towards the water in the collecting pools, you might wonder if you can trust you own sense of privilege, if you’re really allowed to do this. Trail your fingers in the fast flow up top, perch wet or dry atop the falls, wade barefoot into the bottom, or climb. You’re operating in that wonderful audio cocoon-bubble of privacy created by the loud rushing water, behind or maybe inside that wall of sound, so you feel alone and brave. Eventually you give yourself permission. Or you don’t. You decide how brave you want to get, or not. It’s a detail, but many have commented on that moment.

–Walt Lockley

The other Halprin design we have personal experience with is one that’s been well-loved: the Ira Keller Fountain in downtown Portland, Oregon. The Ira Keller Fountain creates an inviting space in the heart of the city that’s both playful and peaceful, depending on your mood. It’s a remarkable space in that there are no safety railings or nanny-safety-devices to prevent you from exploring the space. As we wrote about the fountain in our post about visiting it:

That’s it. There’s nothing stopping you from dipping a toe in, running your hands along the falls, wading around the pads. It is the kind of public space we simply don’t do anymore. The restoration and ongoing use of Ira Keller Fountain is in direct opposition to the blandified, watered-down world of railings that Carter + Burgess recommended for Heritage Park, which is even less arguably dangerous than the Keller Fountain. Keller has kept its interactivity and its soul, and that little bit of mostly-imagined danger that, as Lockley says, lets you “decide how brave you want to get, or not.”

The Ira Keller Fountain is an outstanding example of Halprin’s brilliance, and because it’s been respectfully cared for it’s a real direct, undiluted experience. Because the city hasn’t cordoned off the fountain and interfered with Halprin’s intent, the simple act of visiting it is also an act of engaging in a conversation with Halprin, as your body and mind respond to the subtle cues and design touches that he used to guide your procession through the space.

It’s that the verbal message of those signs is so effectively contradicted and drowned out by the bravery, openness, good sense and loud sexiness of the water, that’s the best part. There are no railings or fences. The place is untamed and attractively dangerous, like the natural world.

–Walt Lockley

Coming from another urban area (Oakland-Berkeley) a number of years ago my first reaction to Ira’s Fountain was slack-jawed disbelief. The thing most striking to me was its absence. Where were the signs saying ‘keep out,’ ‘danger’, ‘caution’, ‘no swimming’? There were no warnings or precautions visible. Did the lawyers know about this? How do they pay the liability? I was charmed, impressed and fell totally in love with the city of Portland at that point. Charmed that they cared enough to give over this energy and space to a non-revenue generator… To this day, many years since, I would name either the Salmon Street Springs or Ira’s Fountain as my favorite spots in the entire city. It is the joy factor of watching people interacting with the water. The kids especially are surprised that it is O.K. to go in. They look around as they approach the fountain, half-expecting someone to yell, ‘Stop, don’t touch that!’

–Barbara Duncan

So today, we celebrate the work and talent of Lawrence Halprin, master of designing spaces for human-scaled interaction. We are fortunate in Fort Worth to have an example of his work in our city, and hopefully soon we will all be able to enjoy it again, the way he intended us to.

Rest in peace, Mr. Halprin. And thank you.

Sep 24, 2009 4

City Of Fort Worth Issues Streetcar Design Request

By: Kevin Buchanan

Major news on the streetcar front. The City of Fort Worth has formally issued a Request for Qualifications, or RFQ, about the streetcar project. This means that the city is actively seeking a firm to do the finalized engineering & design work on the modern streetcar system, from track design and layout to operating and funding processes. Proposals from prospective firms must be received by the City of Fort Worth Purchasing Division no later than October 22. The city states that once the selected firm receives a Notice to Proceed, they must deliver the complete streetcar design & operations package in no more than 365 days.

The RFQ calls for the selected firm to conduct engineering, design, and operational work for the proposed starter system:

The recommended starter alignment includes a downtown one-way loop (including an extension to Trinity Bluff), a West 7th Street route to the Cultural District, and a Near Southside route to the Medical District and the Evans and Rosedale Urban Village. This starter alignment would connect Fort Worth’s two largest employment centers, numerous world-class cultural destinations, and four urban villages.

The RFQ also notes a planned next phase of the streetcar network:

A subsequent phase of the streetcar network would include a route to Texas Wesleyan University on East Rosedale Street and a route to the Historic Stockyards District on North Main Street.

The RFQ is, in total, 14 pages in PDF format. It can be downloaded from the City of Fort Worth’s web site here.

This is where it starts getting real. The city has just gone from the “talk” phase to the “create a complete system design and select an engineering firm” phase. Fort Worth has made some remarkable progress, and we’re now significantly farther into the process than we’ve ever been. Once this process is complete, the city will have a real, detailed streetcar system design specified, from the routes to the vehicles to the fare collection boxes to the operating procedures and everything in between.

It is conceivable that, due to the time frame of the RFQ and the federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant Fort Worth applied for to get some “jump start” money, we could be stepping on to the first phase of a Fort Worth modern streetcar in less than three years.

Below, we’ve copied the text of the main part of the RFQ for easier searching and reading. Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 13, 2009 Comments Off

The Fort Worthology Show, Episode 5: Grab Bag

By: Kevin Buchanan

Just a grab bag of topics in this brief installment of our podcast: TRE Sunday service, Fort Worth’s track record with water features, Tokyo Cafe on Fort Worth Hole-in-the-Wall, Near Southside historic preservation progress, Garvey Mansion update.

[display_podcast]

Jul 14, 2009 Comments Off

Lincoln Park at Trinity Bluff Update

By: Kevin Buchanan

Lincoln’s newest apartment development on the Samuels Avenue section of the Trinity Bluff development has made a lot of progress lately, and we also now have a name for the development: “Lincoln Park.”

It looks like Lincoln counts both the large apartment building and the townhomes across the street as “Lincoln Park,” so information about both is now on the development’s web site. Units range from 646 square feet to 1500 square feet, with rents starting at $925 and going up to $2,380 for the largest townhome units.

Check out the development’s web site and click these photos for a bigger view of the progress.

Jun 22, 2009 1

Villa de Leon Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan


Photo uploaded by Brian Luenser on Flickr.

Villa de Leon at Trinity Bluff has really come a long way, and our friend Brian recently headed out and took a couple of photos of the progress. With the scaffolding gone, we can now get a good look at the facade of the building.

Villa de Leon features 23 units starting at $750,000. For more information, check their web site.


Photo uploaded by Brian Luenser on Flickr.

May 25, 2009 Comments Off

Lincoln Trinity Bluff Apartments

By: Kevin Buchanan

Across the street from their new townhome development, Lincoln Properties is also building this large new apartment structure. As with the townhomes, rents haven’t been released yet, but the new development will have several hundred units with a parking garage buffering the residences from the train tracks to the east.

Spotted recently are the beginnings of facade work, seen below – stone going up on the development’s first floor. We expect the development to be at least somewhat similar to Lincoln’s original Lincoln Trinity Bluff, with red brick trimmed in stone, but the design of the new development already looks a bit more contemporary than the original building around the corner.

May 22, 2009 Comments Off

Lincoln Trinity Bluff Townhomes Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Lincoln’s new townhomes along Samuels on the Trinity Bluffs have progressed a great deal – finishing touches are starting to appear on the units facing Samuels, and framing is well underway on the units looking out over the river.

These townhomes will be rental, at least initially. There’s no word yet on rents, but we expect Lincoln to start releasing that sort of info in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, here are a couple of more photos of the progress being made by Lincoln on these new bluffside townhomes.

May 21, 2009 1

Villa de Leon Progress

By: Kevin Buchanan

Villa de Leon at Trinity Bluff has made more facade progress and it’s starting to become more visible as scaffolding disappears. Villa de Leon is a luxury condo development featuring 23 units starting at $750,000.

May 6, 2009 1

Trinity Bluff updates

By: Kevin Buchanan

Time for another look at progress on the Trinity Bluff developments. Above, the scaffolding at Villa de Leon is slowly but surely starting to come down, and the final appearance of the luxury condo building is more apparent.

Another angle on Villa de Leon.

Lincoln’s large new apartment development across the street is also making steady progress, and the various terraces of the units are now identifiable. No apparent facade work yet, but it shouldn’t be much longer.

Finally, the first row of Lincoln’s new rental townhomes – those along Samuels – have made a lot of progress and now have their facades. These townhomes feature below-grade garages accessed from a rear lane.

Behind the Samuels row, another row of townhomes is well underway. These sit at the edge of the bluff and should have some great views of Downtown and the future Trinity Uptown area across the river.

No Lincoln web site for the new rentals yet, but when it’s up we’ll link to it. Villa de Leon, of course, is at villadeleon.com.

Apr 29, 2009 2

Government & Business Leaders on Portland Streetcar

By: Kevin Buchanan


Portland – A Sense of Place (3 min excerpt on streetcars) from Peter Smith on Vimeo.

We couldn’t help but like the bit in this video from the owner of the famous Powell’s Books in Portland’s Pearl District addressing concerns by downtown area business owners about the construction of the Portland Streetcar (concerns already being expressed here in Fort Worth):

There was some resistance, in the sense that people were skeptical about what it was. “Why would you want to do this?” “Are you going to destroy the parking?” “Are you going to destroy my business in the construction phase?” To the property owners, I just went to them and said, “Our engineers are promising us a block a week, so you can go to the beach for a week, and when you come back, there will be a streetcar line in front of your building – and your property will be worth twice what it was when you went to the beach. And I’ll tell you, that quieted a lot of concerns. But it turned out I was wide of the mark – property values probably went up four times. That’s not just the streetcar – that’s what happens that the streetcar is a part of.

Apr 28, 2009 Comments Off

Designing Heritage Park: Inside the Halprin Archives, Part Three – The Design Comes Together

By: Kevin Buchanan

Continuing our look into the archives of Heritage Park designer Lawrence Halprin courtesy of District 9 City Council member Joel Burns, in Part Three we’ll be looking at sketches from the actual design of Heritage Park itself, and seeing how the park evolved as Halprin went along.

Our first image finds Heritage Park on the west side of the Paddock Viaduct, as we know it today.

At this point, the overlook had not yet appeared, and the configuration of the park was a bit more compact.

As the design progressed, the overlook appeared, though on the other side of the park. Some elements of the final design were starting to be seen, including the water wall along the park’s entrance on Bluff (one of the features that hadn’t worked for some time due to lack of maintenance by the time the park closed).

Halprin started to play with the location of the overlook, here thinking about the various sight lines from a location on the western side of the park.

Here, the park is starting to resemble the park we know a bit more – the overlook is in its eventual place, and the layout is starting to come together. The interior details are still a bit different, but the final design is starting to emerge.

As we start to arrive at the final design, here’s a section looking at the eastern elevation.

A view from the west, looking up what would eventually be the brick path that leads from the river to the park.

Halprin also did some sketches of the interior views, especially of the overlook and other various walkways.

Another walkway sketch, showing one of the cascading water features that follow the paths.

The overlook, extending from the bluffs towards the river on the north.

Finally, we arrive at the final design of the park. This gives an idea of how much more open and light the park felt when new, before lack of maintenance led to it being heavily overgrown. A lot of the problems with the park’s rather uninviting feel could be solved by trimming the trees back a bit.

Once again, a big thanks to District 9 City Council member Joel Burns for sharing with us these images from the archives of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. They give us an interesting look into the design process of Halprin as he put together Heritage Park. We hope that the planned restoration of the park will give the city back this unique space on the bluff.

Apr 27, 2009 Comments Off

Designing Heritage Park: Inside the Halprin Archives, Part Two – Oddities Along the River, Leonard's Subway Extension, and More

By: Kevin Buchanan

Continuing our look into the archives of Heritage Park designer Lawrence Halprin courtesy of District 9 City Council member Joel Burns, we’re taking a look today at some…odd selections leading up through the design of the park. Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at some actual sketches of the design of the park.

First, this rather unusual map…

It’s a bit hard to see what’s going on in this drawing, but close examination reveals some details. The map shows a Downtown Fort Worth that never was, and a good number of structures that were never built. Not all are named, though some appear to be parking structures. It’s almost like a variation of the infamous Gruen Plan. At the top of the map, a curved roadway appears crossing the Trinity to the north of Downtown, and it’s marked with the note “Southwest Freeway general alignment.” It’s hard to picture a freeway slicing through what is now slated to be prime urban development property in the heart of the Trinity River Vision – it would almost certainly have been looked back upon as an unfortunate addition to the central Fort Worth urban environment.

A note just above the Paddock Viaduct notes “Main St. closed to through traffic,” indicating that North Main and the Paddock Viaduct would have perhaps been turned into a pedestrian path.

At upper left, a very interesting piece of history – what appears to be a small lake-type body carved out of the convergence of the West and Clear forks of the river. While much smaller than the lake planned in the Trinity River Vision, it’s clear the idea has been around for a while. Some sort of structure is shown with what appear to be boat docks extending into the lake. A dotted line runs through this structure and to the south, all the way to at least Lancaster Avenue. It’s our belief that this dotted line represents the Leonard’s/Tandy Center subway line, running through some sort of new waterfront development. The dotted line to the south meshes with old plans by the city to extend the Leonard’s subway all the way to Lancaster. Which leads us to…

This appears to be a rendering of the waterfront structure from the map above. The bridge shown is the Henderson Street bridge, and it matches the existing structure’s single arch design. Boat docks extend into the water, and there appear to be people fishing off the structure as well. The river is wider, showing the small “lake” from the previous map. At the lower part of the image, the tracks of the Leonard’s subway can be seen running out of the building into Downtown.

Finally, this is one of several pages of notes written & drawn by Halprin during the design of the park. As this was presented to us without explanation, we can only guess at what Halprin was saying here, exactly, but the note is interesting to look at even without context. Movement has always been a key component of Halprin’s design process, and it would appear he was thinking about it during the Heritage Park design – whatever these notations mean.

Tomorrow – design sketches of the park itself.

Apr 20, 2009 3

Streetcar News Updates – $2 million in funds approved

By: Kevin Buchanan

While we’ve got streetcars on our minds, here’s some good news about the Fort Worth Streetcar project: the North Central Texas Council of Governments has approved using $1.6 million for a grant to the City of Fort Worth to fund a design consultant and study on the project. The city and The T will kick in funds to bring the total up to $2 million. The city will be bringing on a consultant to do detailed design schematics and operational details, which means that we’ll then start to see some concrete Fort Worth streetcar design plans.

This is a big step forward – the current streetcar plan doesn’t have specific design and operation details like actual track layouts, etc. so once this consultant and study are complete we should get a real, detailed plan for the streetcar network. It will be interesting to see how the specifics of track alignments, etc. all pan out.

Apr 13, 2009 1

Fort Worth Streetcar Now Part of Regional Mobility 2030 Plan, Eligible for Federal Dollars

By: Kevin Buchanan

Gordon Dickson at the Star-Telegram has the story – the Fort Worth Streetcar is now an official part of the FW/D region’s Mobility 2030 plan, and thus is now eligible for federal transit funding:

Fort Worth’s proposed streetcar system and a commuter rail line to Mansfield are now officially part of the region’s plans and eligible for federal funding.

The two projects were added to the region’s Mobility 2030 plan Thursday during a meeting of the Regional Transportation Council, North Texas’ congressionally recognized planning body.

Adding the Fort Worth Streetcar to Mobility 2030 is a smart move that should open up new doors for the system, and further reinforces the streetcar’s place as a part of a well-rounded regional transit system covering not only longer-distance mobility through commuter and light rail, but also mobility within neighborhoods and connections from the larger rail systems.

Apr 7, 2009 2

Trinity Bluff Update

By: Kevin Buchanan

Things have been steadily progressing at the Trinity Bluff development on the three big projects currently underway – Villa de Leon, Lincoln’s new apartment development, and Lincoln’s new rental townhome development. Above, a shot of Villa de Leon, showing off the stucco work and tile roof.

Across the street, Lincoln’s new apartment development has reached its full four story height, and it’s easy to see how large the development is and how much it changes the character of the neighborhood.

Looking back towards Samuels Avenue, showing the apartments and Villa de Leon together.

The view down Samuels.

Lincoln’s new rental townhomes on Samuels, across from the new apartments.

Looking back down Samuels towards Villa de Leon.

The back of the townhomes, showing the below-grade garages.

A second row of townhomes will be built behind the ones on Samuels, looking out over the bluff.

Corner of the apartments at Samuels & Gounah.

Looking down Gounah. The apartments are buffered from the railroad tracks behind them by a hidden parking garage.

One more look at Villa de Leon.

Villa de Leon’s 23 condos start at $750,000. The development’s site is villadeleon.com. Rents for Lincoln’s new developments aren’t available yet, but are expected soon.

Apr 6, 2009 Comments Off

Trinity River Vision Bypass Channel Video

By: Kevin Buchanan

The Trinity River Vision Authority has posted this video, about nine and a half minutes in length, taking a look at the scale bypass channel model and the engineering and philosophy behind the project.

I’ve noticed that recently, a few more buildings have been demolished to make way for the TRV bypass channel, including the old Whataburger and chocolate factory buildings on White Settlement. There is starting to be a pretty noticeable swath of demolition along what will be the bypass channel route.

Feb 17, 2009 2

Villa de Leon and Lincoln Trinity Bluff Updates

By: Kevin Buchanan

Over on the Trinity Bluffs, developer Tom Struhs is making steady progress on the luxury condo building Villa de Leon. Extensive stucco work has been done to the Ames Fender-designed residential building on Samuels Avenue, and when I snapped this photo the work was moving around to the building’s Samuels facade.

Villa de Leon’s 23 condos start at $750,000. The project’s web site is villadeleon.com.

Across the street, Lincoln Properties is continuing work on a large new apartment structure along Samuels and Gounah. It appears that this new Lincoln development is noticeably larger than the original Lincoln Trinity Bluff on Bluff Street between Samuels and Pecan. The development features a parking garage buffering the apartments from the railroad tracks at the rear of the site.

Above is the Samuels side of the development, and below is the Gounah side.

So far, I don’t have much word on rents on Lincoln’s new developments. I’ll fill that in once I get more information.

As can be seen in this shot looking down Samuels, there’s a third development underway in this area – along the right, on the bluff side of Samuels just down from Villa de Leon.

This is Lincoln’s third development at Trinity Bluff – a series of for-rent brownstone-style townhomes. I expect these to grow to a height of three stories. The units have their own garages located below-grade and accessed from a rear drive. I don’t have information on rents in this project either, but will update when I can.

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Browse the Fort Worthology Linklog - interesting and cool urbanism, transit, and bicycle links that aren't necessarily Fort Worth-centric.

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