Commercial Metal moves from Trinity River Vision’s path

Commercial Metal Co. Recycling, a Fort Worth metal recycling plant, closed on 39 acres near Meacham Boulevard in north Fort Worth to relocate its business out of the path of the Trinity River Vision development planned along the banks of the Trinity River.

CMC, which has operated in Fort Worth since the 1930s from its site at 601 N. Throckmorton St., bought the 39 acres at Lone Star Boulevard and Northeast Parkway, north of Meacham Boulevard and east of Blue Mound Road in north Fort Worth.

CMC’s Throckmorton site sat directly on the plans for a proposed Fifth Street bridge connecting the Henderson/White Settlement streets for the planned Trinity River Vision – a $909.6 million, 800-acre flood control and mixed-use development slated for central and north Fort Worth that involves rerouting the Trinity River in the area.

CMC enlisted Roger Smeltzer from Strategic Commercial to find the company a new site with room to grow, Heavy K Industrial zoning and rail access. Smeltzer said he “stumbled on a 100-plus acre tract in the Mark IV Business Park” in north Fort Worth just south of Loop 820 and Mark IV Road. 

“With several potentials being eliminated because they were brown fields land, we pretty much had to walk every railroad track within Fort Worth city limits to find this land,” Smeltzer said in a release. 

The new facility also will give CMC the option to expand its service to a service such as rubber recycling, Smeltzer said in the release.

Smeltzer represented Commercial Metals in the transaction and Steve McKeever, a broker with McKeever Cos., represented the seller in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

Kroger signs on with

Alliance Town Center

Developers of Fort Worth’s Alliance Town Center have announced the addition of a Kroger Marketplace set to open in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Kroger will open a 123,000-square-foot store under its Kroger Marketplace banner, serving as the company’s fourth such store in Texas. The store will be located at the southwest corner of Heritage Trace Parkway and Riverside Drive at Alliance Town Center in north Fort Worth.

A joint development of Trademark and Hillwood Properties, Alliance Town Center is a 2 million-square-foot retail, office, residential and entertainment portion of the 17,000-square-foot AllianceTexas development in Fort Worth that is located along the east side of Interstate 35W between North Tarrant Parkway and Heritage Trace Parkway. The 300-acre development has more than 20 retailers that occupy more than 600,000 square feet at Alliance Town Center currently including JCPenney, Sam Moon, Bank of Texas, Belk, Best Buy, Cheddar’s, Dress Barn, Eye Masters, Hobby Lobby, Jason’s Deli, Justice, Kincaid’s, Mattress Firm, McDonald’s, PetSmart, Rack Room, Rue 21, Smoothie King, Sports Clips, Ulta, Wells Fargo and Which Wich. Currently under construction at Alliance Town Center are new locations for Rooms To Go, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Freebirds World Burrito and Kirkland’s.

At full build-out, Alliance Town Center also will house the HCA medical campus.

The development’s Kroger store will be the first grocery store within the project, serving more than 7,200 single-family homes in the nearby residential portions of AllianceTexas.

Shamrock returns to West Seventh, Poag Mahone’s moves a few blocks

West Seventh Street soon will see a familiar face lining the booming corridor as the owner and operator of the former Shamrock Pub has plans to open Shamrock Tavern at the start of 2010.

Matt McEntire, who owns three buildings in the West Seventh Street area – at 2708 and 2710 West Seventh St. and at 700 Carroll St. – said Poag Mahone’s Irish Pub, which currently operates from the 2710 West Seventh St. building soon will move to the newly renovated Carroll Street building along with a law firm currently in the other West Seventh space to make way for Shamrock Tavern.

“There’s just a lot going on over here; it’s very exciting,” McEntire said.

Poag Mahone’s will move into 3,500 square feet of renovated space at the Carroll Street location. McEntire Law Firm, run by Matt McEntire’s wife, Julie McEntire, will move from 1,600 square feet on West Seventh to take the other 3,500 square feet at the Carroll Street building. Matt McEntire said once the moves are complete, he will bring in sub-contractors to renovate the side-by-side buildings along West Seventh Street and convert them into one larger space to accommodate Shamrock Tavern.

McEntire leased the space at 2710 West Seventh St. – the former home of Shamrock Pub – to Poag Mahone’s, which is owned by Will Wells, Glen Keely and Chris Ledbetter, in 2008. Two were former bartenders for the Shamrock.

“Poag Mahone’s has done exceptionally well,” McEntire said. “Things are growing so fast over here, but it’s good.”

McEntire, who operates under Shamrock Corner Holdings and Blarney Stone Enterprises, also owns the property at 2709 West Sixth St., which he plans to use for parking for the establishment.

Following renovations, McEntire said Shamrock Tavern should open in January 2010.

Heritage Village in Hurst wraps up development

Fort Worth-based AUI Contractors completed work on Heritage Village on West Pipeline Road in Hurst featuring a fire

station, a senior citizen’s center, a one-acre landscaped plaza and a future upscale apartment project for seniors.

Hurst Fire Station No. 2, designed by Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects, is a $5 million fire station completed by AUI Contractors that has won the TEXO Excellence in Construction award in the Commercial $5 million to $10 million category. 

The development’s 1-acre oasis was designed by landscape architecture firm David C. Baldwin Inc. A former Cavender’s Boot Store was converted into the 22,000-square-foot Hurst Senior Activities Center designed by Komatsu Architecture, which includes several activity centers, catering kitchen, dining area, library, fitness room, and a 5,700-square-foot, multi-purpose room.

Country Day School opens doors to visual arts center

Sedalco Construction Services has completed the 10,000-square-foot Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center on the campus of Fort Worth Country Day School.

The new construction includes a lobby for the north entrance, restrooms, resource areas and two large studios for two- and three-dimensional media. Gideon Toal was the architectural firm of record.

Thumbtechs lease and renovate new office space

Innovative Developers Inc. has been selected to renovate the new corporate home for Thumbtechs Corp., a computer, network and IT support provider, at 201 S. Main St. The new suite has 5,236 square feet of usable space and is expected to be ready in January, 2010.

Casey Herrell will be the construction project manager for Innovative Developers. Lease negotiations were completed by Chris Haller of Patterson & Associates and Dak Hatfield of IDI.

ahowe@bizpress.net