Larkspur Capital Starts Construction on Westside Village

Keystone Group and Larkspur Capital promise to bring to Fort Worth its biggest office development in 40 years.

On Thursday, Robert Bass’ Fort Worth-based firm and Carl Anderson’s Dallas-based firm celebrated the start of construction on Westside Village, a 37-acre mixed-use development on Fort Worth’s West Side, near the booming Cultural District.

The $1.7 billion project will benefit from $45 million in funding from Fort Worth’s newly established Tax Increment Finance District No. 4 — to be used for flood mitigation and other infrastructure improvements. The city of Fort Worth has authorized a total of $125 million in incentives for the project, Mayor Mattie Parker said at the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday morning at the Fort Worth development site.

The first phase will include two buildings: a six-story office property with two restaurants and a private club on the top floor, and a seven-story apartment building. HPI has been tapped to handle office leasing.

“I’d love to get tenants expanding or relocating to Fort Worth,” Anderson said, when asked about the office users he’s looking to fill the space. “Maybe finance, oil and gas.”

When completed, the project is expected to feature 880,000 square feet of office space, 238,000 square feet of retail, 1,800 multifamily units and a 175-key hotel.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck said the project would bring the city’s largest office development in 40 years.

The project’s partners said in October that the development will also feature The Shed, a restaurant-and-entertainment hub. A former meat locker at 2800 Cullen Street will be converted into a hub that will feature 19,100 square feet of indoor space, a sprawling 23,000-square-foot covered patio and another 23,500 square feet of outdoor space.

The site is at the intersection of University Boulevard and White Settlement Road, a light industrial area that’s home to a few blocks of car dealerships. As part of the construction of Westside Village, the dealerships (which sit on land owned by Keystone Group) are relocating to South Fort Worth, at Oakmont Boulevard and Chisholm Trail Parkway.

The site is in an area that abuts Fort Worth’s Cultural District, a popular recipient of investment in the last five years. The Cultural District will soon be home to two mixed-use developments from Nebraska-based Goldenrod Companies. Crescent Real Estate recently opened a mixed-use development in the neighborhood; the project includes a hotel, condos and office space. Crescent said the success of the project inspired it to add a 170,000 office building.