Near Southside's Newest Mixed-Use Project Breaks Ground

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Construction is officially underway for a Near Southside development that will add additional offices, restaurants, and retail behind Shinjuku Station and Panther City Salon.

Ground broke Thursday for The 701, a mixed-use project led by developers Ryan Dodson and Alex Bryant of newly formed partnership, Dodson Commercial Real Estate (formerly Dodson Development). The project's designer also happens to be its anchor tenant — VLK Architects, which will move to The 701 from its current headquarters on West Seventh Street. 

Located at the corner of Hemphill Street and West Magnolia Avenue, the 68,000-square-foot development consists of the existing two-story building that houses Shinjuku Station and Panther City Salon; a new, 3,700-square-foot restaurant that fronts West Magnolia; and a new, three-story office and retail building that will serve as VLK's new offices on the top floor (about 26,000 square feet), additional business and medical tenants on the second floor, and restaurant/retail space on the ground floor. 

The three buildings will connect via a pedestrian plaza, which will feature shop space and patios, plus a 200-car parking garage onsite. 

This is Dodson and Bryant's first project as Dodson Commercial Real Estate. The duo partnered in October and are currently based in Arlington (though they both live in Fort Worth). Dodson was also the developer behind other Near Southside projects like the ABC Flag Building, The Bearded Lady relocation to South Main Street, and 1455 W. Magnolia Ave., which houses several tenants including Salsa Limón.

"[The 701] is definitely our signature project on the Southside," Dodson says. "We've used this project as kind of a launch board for our company ... it's just a testament to the future of Fort Worth. Seeing this type of infill, high-end development is really exciting for us."

Construction on The 701 is expected to finish in early 2022. 

"We're taking a new, modern construction project and marrying it with that pedestrian paseo to a historic building that has so much significance on the skyline of Magnolia," Bryant says.

---FOO BAR