Texas A&M’s downtown research complex gets a name: Texas A&M-Fort Worth
January 20,2023
See full Fort Worth Business Press article by Marice Richter here.
Fort Worth and Tarrant County officials joined with Texas A&M University System’s leaders Thursday to announce that Fort Worth’s downtown research campus will be named Texas A&M-Fort Worth.
The new three-building complex will be built on a four-block site encompassing the Texas A&M School of Law and will being together programming from Texas A&M University, Tarleton State University and several A&M agencies.
The multimillion-dollar complex will anchor a downtown technology and innovation district that is envisioned for the area surrounding the Fort Worth Convention Center.
The effort to create the ambitious complex began two years ago when Fort Worth real estate magnate and business leader John Goff and former Mayor Betsy Price approached Texas A&M leaders about expanding the university’s footprint in Fort Worth, the largest city in Texas without a major public research facility.
“A top-10 public research institution ensures Fort Worth’s future is rooted in the ‘next economy’ driven by an educated workforce, whether it be lawyers, engineers, health care professionals or technology workers whose jobs don’t even exist today,” said Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp.
“Thanks to our partners, the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the Texas A&M System is investing in a unique public-private sector endeavor that will be a magnet for economic growth for the North Texas region,” Sharp said.
Construction is set to begin this summer on the first building, the Law & Education Building, and is expected to be completed by 2025. The Texas A&M System will finance the building with bonds backed by the Permanent University Fund and other sources.
The other two buildings, the Research and Innovation building and the Gateway conference center and offices, will be funded by city-issued bonds backed by leases to the Texas A&M System and private investment, according to university officials. Plans for construction of those two buildings have yet to be announced.
The funding arrangement will expedite construction so it can be completed in about third of the time it would take the Texas A&M System to do it alone.
Goff, who is co-chair with Price of Fort Worth Now, will play a key role in helping bring investment to the project. At Thursday’s 2023 Real Estate Forecast sponsored by the Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth Goff said he anticipates major corporate relocations as a result of the new institution, which will be transformative for downtown and all of Fort Worth.
The high-rise buildings will include classrooms, labs, and flexible spaces that can be used by the public and private users for academic programs, workforce training and collaborative research in the fields of engineering, emergency management communications, agriculture, health sciences and other disciplines.
A developer for the complex has yet to be selected but Sharp announced the design team for the Law & Education building. Stantec will be architect of record for the project, working in partnership with the design architect, Pelli Clarke & Partners.
“Our team is committed to designing high-performing, flexible spaces that meet the needs of modern education,” said Dan Caren, principal at Stantec.
“Aside from providing a state-of-the-art space for education, collaboration, and innovation, the Texas A&M Fort Worth Law and Education building will serve as a catalyst for Downtown Fort Worth’s next chapter,” said William Butler, design partner at Pelli Clarke & Partners.
The construction team includes Turner Construction Company, CARCON Industries, Source Building Group Inc., and Dikita Enterprises.
Besides the School of Law, Texas A&M already has a significant presence in Fort Worth through research agreements with several major employers and an engineering academy at Tarrant County College, where students can complete two years of engineering coursework taught by Texas A&M professors before transferring to College Station.
Locations Mentioned: Texas A&M Fort Worth, Texas A&M University School of Law