As America’s fastest-growing major city, Fort Worth is positioning itself as the dominant real estate market in North Texas.
Fort Worth has quickly become the go-to for building in the region, with more than $2 billion worth of commercial and multifamily developments currently under construction or in the project pipeline, reported The Wall Street Journal.
With Fort Worth City Council working out how to navigate the city’s growing demand, Todd Burnette, managing director in charge of real estate company JLL’s Fort Worth office, suggested Cowtown is in store for explosive demand and population.
“We’re in the early stages of what’s happened in Austin,” Burnette told WSJ.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, most of North Texas has been seeing impressive economic growth for years now — with the notable exception of Dallas, where a cumbersome permitting process, underperforming schools, and high crime have hindered the city from getting its share of the broader population boom and businesses looking to relocate to the metroplex.
Still, Fort Worth stands out. Of the country’s top 30 most populated cities, Fort Worth has seen the fastest growth rate. The city has had a 4.1% growth rate since 2020 and a numeric population gain in 2022 of about 19,170, with approximately 53 people moving there daily, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In contrast, Dallas has had a growth rate of -3.36% since 2020 and a numeric population decline of 14,444 in 2022, with about 40 people leaving every day.
In terms of office vacancies, Dallas’ downtown area has a vacancy rate of roughly 30% compared to Fort Worth’s 13%, according to JLL, per WSJ.
In addition to the city’s slow permit approval process, the continued trend of remote work has also taken its toll on construction in Dallas, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“It’s not uncommon that when we’re competing, we’re competing with other Texas cities, not other states,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, reported WSJ.
Fort Worth’s development pipeline includes a wide array of commercial, multifamily, and mixed-use projects.
Texas developer John Goff is set to open Crescent Fort Worth, a $275 million mixed-use development featuring 168,000 square feet of office space, 175 upscale rental apartments, and a 200-room luxury hotel.
Some other developments include Texas A&M’s planned Fort Worth campus, a second office for videogame company ProbablyMonsters, and a mixed-use development slated for construction on the site of the now-shuttered Fort Worth Central Library, among others.