Renovations on one of the last standing industrial buildings in the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards are set to begin in August.
The abandoned Armour & Co. Packing Plant located at 601 E. Exchange Ave. will be converted into office space, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Construction on the building will begin on August 1 and is scheduled to be completed by July 1, 2024. The new office location will be called the “Armour Office Building” and will total 51,000 square feet.
Filings indicate that renovations will include new elevators and stairs, as well as work on the red-brick exterior and roof. The land and parking lot will also be worked on during construction.
The total cost of the renovations is expected to be roughly $8 million, and the project will be privately funded.
In 1901, G.W. Simpson and L.V. Niles began negotiations with the meatpacking firm about developing a plant in Fort Worth. The site was chosen after The Fort Worth Stock Yards Co. offered incentives for building on the land, and construction of the plant began in 1902, according to The Historical Marker Database.
The plant opened in 1903 and included a total of eight buildings, per The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
More buildings were added to the plant throughout the 1950s, per the Star-Telegram.
The plant closed in 1962 after being open for more than 50 years. The majority of the buildings on the lot were destroyed in 2012, but the 601 E. Exchange property remained in place.
The newly renovated building will be adjacent to a proposed 825-unit apartment complex located “in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards,” as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Construction for the complex is expected to begin in 2023 and finish sometime in 2025.
The complex will comprise five buildings, including an outdoor courtyard, a fourth-floor sky lounge, and a fitness center, reported the Star-Telegram. It will be roughly 440,000 square feet.