An overgrown parking lot off Leslie Street, nearly hidden among the tall trees and medical buildings of the Near Southside District, holds promise for new transit-oriented development.
The site, located between railroad tracks to the west and Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center–Fort Worth to the east, is expected to become part of the new TEXRail station planned for the Mistletoe Heights neighborhood. The station is expected to open around 2029.
“There is so much potential for that station to be a flagship destination,” said 42-year-old Fort Worth resident Brian Cameron, who takes TEXRail to reach Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. “I’d like to see some community amenities.”
He and dozens of other residents attended a meeting Sept. 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn–Fort Worth Medical Center to get public input for developments around the planned Near Southside/Medical District Station.
Fort Worth residents said they want to see the passenger train station developed with walkable trails, retail stores, coffee shops and restaurants.
James Saat, 31, a financial analyst who uses Trinity Metro buses and bikes, said he wants to see a mix of housing and retail developments near the station.
“I’d like to see more connections to the station,” he said. “It makes it easier to use.”
Restaurateur Peter Schroder, who owned the Old Neighborhood Grill at 1633 Park Place Ave. for many years, said he would like to see a trail built on an abandoned railroad spur near Park Place Village, a few blocks away from the planned station.
“Park Place is the center of the four Southside neighborhoods,” he said. “I think it’s going to enhance the neighborhood so much.”
The groundbreaking for TEXRail’s 2.1-mile extension from downtown Fort Worth to the Near Southside area will occur in late 2026 although an exact date isn’t set yet, Trinity Metro president and CEO Rich Andreski told city council members during a briefing earlier this year.
Fort Worth residents gather around a map Wednesday to give input on possible transit-oriented solutions for the Near Southside/Medical District Station. (Eric E. Garcia | Fort Worth Report)
Officials said the Near Southside/Medical District Station will make a big impact by providing access to 50,000 jobs in the area and improving regional healthcare access.
“We are transforming Trinity Metro into a modern, full-serve organization to support our growing city and to continue to drive economic development,” Andreski said. “Innovation is one of our core values at Trinity Metro in terms of thinking differently about how we deliver service every day.”
More than 842,000 rides have been recorded on TEXRail so far this fiscal year, Trinity Metro data shows.
Transit development efforts
As the agency redevelops its inner-city stations, Trinity Metro officials said they hope to duplicate the success of the TEXRail station in downtown Grapevine, one of the most popular destinations on the rail service.
Fort Worth’s Northside is targeted as a place to create a walkable, transit-oriented neighborhood — prompting city officials to consider zoning changes for about 204 acres around the TEXRail station at 2829 Decatur Ave. to add mixed-use residential and retail projects.
On Aug. 11, city council members approved a resolution to initiate rezoning of some industrial properties around the station.
The Fort Worth Zoning Commission advanced the rezoning effort on Wednesday by issuing a recommendation to rezone properties around the North Side Station, where a recycling business sits directly across from the station platform.
“Appropriate transit-oriented development around this station is expected to attract a wide range of residents, employees, business patrons and students from the surrounding neighborhood and region, while serving as a key link to the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, a popular entertainment and tourism district located less than one mile from the station platform,” officials wrote in a staff report.
Officials want to develop transit-related mixed-use projects around the TEXRail North Side Station at 2829 Decatur Ave. (Eric E. Garcia | Fort Worth Report)
The area near the station currently includes a mix of heavy to light industrial operations as well as small and medium commercial and storage lots, single-family homes, duplexes and other vacant tracts, the report said.
The council-initiated zoning proposal would affect land around the rail station, excluding most single-family homes nearby. Many of the targeted properties are located along or near Northeast 28th Street or Decatur Avenue with others on Glendale and Brennan avenues and North Hays, Hardy, Schadt and Peak streets, according to the report.
Tony Herhold, a city of Fort Worth planning manager, told zoning commissioners that two longtime businesses were concerned about the rezoning effort.
A representative of Williamson Tire Co., 2102 NE 28th St., told the panel the business was worried about continuing its operations if the rezoning is approved by city council on Oct. 13.
Herhold said the city will work with the business and others to begin a “path to continuing operations after rezoning.” He added that those businesses could remain open as a legal but nonconforming business under zoning ordinances.
Northside meeting
This week, Trinity Metro officials will gather input from residents about possible transit-oriented developments near the North Side and Mercantile Center TEXRail train stations.
The open house-style meeting will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Northside Community Center, 1100 NW 18th St.
A scrap metal recycling business is directly across from the rail platform at the TEXRail North Side Station in Fort Worth. (Eric E. Garcia | Fort Worth Report)
Both stations are among those with the lowest ridership, agency data shows.
So far this year, about 4,500 riders used the North Side Station, while about 5,000 people used the Mercantile Center Station, 4201 N. Beach St.
Redeveloping Mercantile Center could be laborious since it has a single-side platform and an elevated pedestrian pathway with parking across the rail tracks, said Mike Brennan, Trinity Metro’s vice president of economic development and a former Near Southside Inc. president.
“That station will be a challenge because of its layout,” Brennan told the Report last week. “But we’ll see what we can do with it.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:40 a.m. Sept. 14 to clarify Northside meeting details.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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