JV Planning Nearly 1M SF of Urban Mixed Use

FORT WORTH-The sign’s up on the site and all the development dirt is in hand. Although full details won’t come out until mid-May, Cypress Equities and equity partner the Carlyle Group are fine-tuning a plan for nearly one million sf of mixed-use space on the city’s west side.

The West Seventh Street project has been part of the rumor mill since late January when Dallas-based Cypress, an affiliate of Staubach Co., and Washington, DC-headquartered Carlyle Group bought the Acme Brick Co.’s headquarters at 2821 W. Seventh St. Since then, the joint venture has assembled three full blocks for a “true vertically integrated” infill project with close to one million sf of retail, residential, hospitality space and possibly service-type office, according to Chris Maguire, president of Cypress Equities and Staubach Retail Services.

Maguire tells GlobeSt.com that the delay in releasing details is due to negotiations for the hotel flag and putting the finishing touches on city agreements. “It will be at least a couple months before we get the agreements in place,” he explains.

Although he can’t go into deep detail, Maguire did say the goal is to break ground by year’s end. The site, of course, will have to be scraped.

“We’re real excited about this property,” Maguire says. “We think it’s a gem. We have quite a few mixed-use projects going on in the US, but strategically, it’s at the top of the list.”

Maguire says Staubach Retail has been hard at work on preleasing to edge the project closer to reality. Dallas-based Good Fulton & Farrell Inc. designed West Seventh Street, an internal name that could be changed by the time the plan rolls out to the public which, if a local blog is right, will be at the May meeting of the Associated Businesses of the Cultural District.

Meanwhile, another Staubach affiliate, SmithCypress Partners, has two development sites under contract. Maguire has confirmed that one is situated in North Tarrant County’s Golden Triangle and the other is located in the southeastern quadrant of Fort Worth. But, the details need to come from former Dallas Cowboy and “king of the dance floor,” Emmitt Smith.

Smith’s PR team has declined to comment on the projects or confirm details in a mid-December 2006 article in which Smith aired preliminary details for a 500,000-sf to 600,000-sf retail center. He told a Dallas business editor that 64 acres were under contract off Interstate 35W south of Texas Motor Speedway and talks were underway for a second site in southeast Fort Worth.