Texas A&M-Fort Worth broke ground on its first building on Wednesday and announced a major tenant for its second.
The campus, a first-of-its-kind urban research campus intended to boost the regional economy, will be the anchor of an innovation district in southeast downtown Fort Worth.
The first project will house the Law & Education Building, a $150 million, eight-story home for the Texas A&M School of Law as well as other academic offerings by Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Health and Tarleton State University.
The City of Fort Worth and Tarrant County will partner with the Texas A&M System to construct two additional campus buildings over four city blocks.
At the groundbreaking, Fortune 500 company Lockheed Martin, based in Fort Worth, signed a memorandum of understanding to discuss jointly developing education courses and workforce training and research programs.
“It’s not often you break ground on one building while announcing potential tenants for a second building still on the drawing boards,” Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said in a statement to The Dallas Express. “It just demonstrates the commitment of the A&M System and our community partners to get this game-changer up and running quickly.”
Lockheed Martin Vice President Bridget Lauderdale, who leads the company’s F-35 fighter jet program, said the agreement could produce future engineers for the company.
“Lockheed Martin is proud to continue collaborating with Texas A&M University through this memorandum of understanding, establishing an additional talent pipeline of quality engineers in Fort Worth,” Lauderdale said. “Together, we will continue our joint, cutting-edge research to deliver innovative solutions for 21st Century security challenges, providing transformational capabilities in support of national security.”
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said the Texas A&M System “is building exactly what Fort Worth needs in this moment in our history.”
“This groundbreaking represents countless future careers in law, medical technology, nursing and engineering, all of which are vital to meeting the need for a highly-skilled workforce in Fort Worth and North Texas for decades to come, Parker said.
Tarrant County Judge Jim O’Hare said the project “will be incredibly vital to the long-term success of Tarrant County.”
“It will bring in multiple high-quality business relocations to partner with the university and will enhance an already first-class downtown,” he added.
Stantec will serve as the architect of record for the Law & Education Building with the design architect, Pelli Clarke & Partners.
The construction management teams will be Turner Construction Co., CARCON Industries, Source Building Group Inc. and Dikita Enterprises.
Texas A&M said the Law & Education Building will be completed by 2025, with the goal of completing the first three campus buildings by 2027.