Fort Worth appears to have an unofficial bird of sorts \u2014 the tower crane.<\/p>\n
At least 16 construction cranes are in operation around Fort Worth \u2014 marking the most visible building equipment in use in more than a decade as Cowtown has grown to be the nation\u2019s 10th-largest city<\/a>.<\/p>\n The urban development platform Now.Town said five tower cranes are operating in the TCU area as a massive $500 million building boom<\/a> is underway to transform the campus. That plan includes construction of new dining and residential facilities, a mixed-use project on West Berry Street and the renovation of the historic Ed Landreth Hall and Auditorium.<\/p>\n Another five tower cranes are being used at hospital campuses across the city\u2019s Medical District\/Near Southside area. Two are in place at the Moncrief Cancer Institute<\/a> for an expansion project while another pair is visible at Cook Children\u2019s Health Care System\u2019s $1 billion 760,000-square-foot West Tower project<\/a>. One tower crane at JPS Health Network is for a new outpatient medical building<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mixed-use developments round out the final six projects involving tower cranes. Two are located at the site of the $1.7 billion residential-retail Westside Village<\/a> project. The first phase of the 37-acre development will include a 100,000-square-foot Class AA office building and 308-unit luxury residences.<\/p>\n The other four projects \u2014 the Van Zandt<\/a>, Merrimac<\/a>, Westbend Residences<\/a> and Crescent Office Tower West<\/a> \u2014 each have one tower crane in place.<\/p>\n Now.Town said the number of cranes in operation in Fort Worth \u201cmarks the most tower cranes in our 10 years of tracking,\u201d surpassing the 15 used in summer 2016. The number of tower cranes now in use is \u201cpossibly the most in Fort Worth\u2019s history,\u201d the organization said.<\/p>\n Residents said the construction activity is the sign of a top 10 city.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have one of the weakest downtown skylines of any major city in this country,\u201d replied Jeremy Zvitt, a Fort Worth designer and sculptural fabricator, to a June 29 Now.Town Facebook post on the number of tower cranes. \u201cBy the looks of our downtown area, it looks like we\u2019re still a city of 500,000. Time to build some real skyscrapers, the city is depressingly weak.\u201d<\/p>\n Corey Keller, a railroad dispatcher, said the construction activity is a sure sign that Fort Worth has matured.<\/p>\n \u201cFort Worth needs to stop growing out and grow up instead,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Last summer, just one project \u2014 the Texas A&M Fort Worth Law and Education Building \u2014 had a tower crane, Now.Town said. That crane has been removed as the building\u2019s August opening nears<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fort Worth’s fowl<\/p>\n By the way, Fort Worth does have an official bird<\/a> \u2014 the eastern bluebird was so named by city officials in 2024 after a contest.<\/p>\n More tower cranes are expected as big projects begin construction. Those include JPS\u2019s $1.5 billion new hospital<\/a>, Fort Worth Convention Center\u2019s $701 million expansion<\/a>, future Westside Village phases of construction, and the Texas A&M Fort Worth Research and Innovation Building<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n