Fort Worth City Council Hears About Proposed $100 Million Panther Island Development

Fort Worth City Council heard a briefing this week on a proposal that could represent the first major development project on Panther Island.

The city recapped the briefing in a Tuesday blog post. According to the post, Fort Worth City Council heard a staff presentation on a mixed-use development that would be located on the corner of North Main St. and Northeast Fourth St.

Austin-based developer Seco Ventures is looking to develop this $100 million project, which would feature a 12-story high-rise multifamily property with ground-floor retail.

The development would include a minimum of 290 apartment units and at least 9,000 square feet of retail space. It could reach 250,000 total square feet in size.

Seco Ventures is looking to invest a minimum of $100 million in development costs in the project, including $75 million in hard construction costs. The developer is hoping to use small business firms for 30% of its real property improvement costs.

The developer would also be required to support the delivery of several public improvements, such as creating pedestrian access to the nearby canal, accommodating select underground utilities, installing water quality devices, and more.

The City of Fort Worth, in exchange, will propose an economic development program agreement to help reduce the perception of risk.

These annual performance-based grants would be capped at $1 million per year for up to 10 years, delivered only if necessary, based upon the verified financial gap required to achieve a 6.5% target yield-on-cost.

Fort Worth City Council will consider the proposed incentive on Tuesday, June 9.