was a groundbreaking, but it was also a party early in May when Sundance Square began an expansion in the 35-block office, retail and entertainment district that is the brainchild of developer Ed Bass.
The project includes three buildings and the reconditioning of some existing ones and - the big news for the average visitor to downtown - a plaza with stage, lighting, sound, landscaping, fountains, shade structures, public art and public restrooms.
"It is perhaps most significantly the centerpiece of the original Sundance Square master plan, which now dates back some 25 years," said Johnny Campbell, president and CEO of Sundance Square. "In many ways, it is the culmination of that plan and the creation of a "place" where people can experience the best of Sundance Square."
The plaza will be located on two blocks that are now largely parking lots on either side of Main Street between 3rd and 4th streets. It will cover more than an acre and be defined on the west by a new, five-story building with frontage on Houston Street and on the east by several new buildings of two to five stories with frontage on Commerce Street. The Jett Building at the corner of Main and 3rd streets with the Chisholm Trail Mural will be preserved.
A downtown plaza has been a dream of developers and planners, but earlier proposals proved to be economically unfeasible.
"We are adding approximately 150,000 square feet of office and 41,000 square feet of retail and additional penthouse loft apartments to connect to the existing Sanger Lofts," Campbell said. "We have selected this time because we are very optimistic about the underlying strength of Fort Worth, the multi-year sales growth we have been experiencing and the increase in office occupancies during the past year."
Campbell said that the parking lots being used supplied about 3 percent of the 5,400 free customer parking spaces in the area. Sundance added 416 spaces to a 2002 parking garage in anticipation of the loss of parking spots in the plaza development.
"We monitor parking very aggressively, and we've been planning for this all along," he said.
