On Wednesday, the university celebrated the grand opening of its eight-story, 228,000-square-foot Law & Education Building in downtown Fort Worth, according to a news release. Immediately following, the university broke ground on its 11-story Research & Innovation Building.
“Today’s celebration marks the beginning of what’s ahead for Texas A&M-Fort Worth,” Kim McCuistion, associate vice chancellor and director of Texas A&M-Fort Worth, said in the release. “Together, we’re building a unique campus where universities, state agencies and industry partners work side by side to prepare students, advance research and solve real-world challenges.”
The Law & Education Building will house several academic programs from A&M and Tarleton State University, while the upcoming Research & Innovation Building aims to expand the university’s research capabilities.
Once complete, the Fort Worth campus is expected to generate more than $3 billion in annual economic activity and support more than 25,000 direct and indirect jobs. The project carries a $1.5 billion price tag and has been underway since 2022, according to WFAA.
“The two buildings will serve as the academic and research anchors of the Switchyard Innovation District, a planned hub for education, research, entrepreneurship and business collaboration in southeast downtown Fort Worth,” according to the release.
The Law & Education Building will serve as a hub for the Texas A&M School of Law and several other programs across engineering, business, healthcare, pharmacy, biotechnology and medical laboratory sciences. Six Texas A&M System agencies will also be based in the building.
The facility is designed to bring together students, researchers, public service professionals and industry partners for collaboration, applied research and hands-on learning.
“This is not simply another downtown building or a collection of academic programs,” Glenn Hegar, chancellor of The Texas A&M University System, said in the release. “It is a place where a student can meet a future employer, a researcher can sit across the table from a company facing a real problem and a good idea can become a product, a business or a job.”
Immediately following the grand opening of the Law & Education Building, crews broke ground on the Research & Innovation Building.
The university said the facility will “expand opportunities for university researchers, Texas A&M System agencies and private-sector partners to collaborate in aerospace, engineering, agriculture, health sciences, virtual production, medicine, food and nutrition science, biotechnology and transportation,” according to the release.
Construction on the 11-story building is scheduled to be completed in 2029.