By ELIZABETH CAMPBELL, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Reprint Courtesy of the Fort Worth Star Telegram
September 5, 2007
Benbrook is a step closer to landing Home Depot and Wal-Mart as anchors for a retail development along a busy stretch of U.S. 377 and Loop 820.
The City Council approved zoning changes last month that paved the way for a shopping center at the 137-acre site, one of the last big tracts slated for development in Benbrook.
City Manager Andy Wayman said real estate deals haven't been finalized.
"We're closer than we've ever been," Wayman said. "We're thinking positively, and we're excited about the potential of both businesses coming here."
The Benbrook Economic Development Corp., which owns the land, is working with Richpenn Resources International of Arlington to develop the site. The shopping center would be called Benbrook Field.
The site is on the west side of U.S. 377/Benbrook Boulevard, north and south of Mercedes Street, and south of Interstate 20/Loop 820. It will have room for about 53 businesses, including banks and restaurants, Wayman said. The Home Depot would be built on 10 acres, and Wal-Mart would build a supercenter with a grocery on 20 acres.
Wal-Mart officials declined to discuss their plans for Benbrook.
"At this time, we are still analyzing the site in Benbrook and will hopeful- ly have final details soon," Kellie Duhr, Wal-Mart's senior manager for public affairs, said in an e-mail statement.
The two retailers are expected to generate about $800,000 in annual sales-tax revenue for the city and an additional $400,000 for the economic-development corporation and the library district
Together, they could generate $80 million in sales, Wayman said.
The new development would be in a special tax-increment financing district; property-tax revenue it generates would be used for improvements there.
Ron Rainey, executive director of the economic- development corporation, said the new stores will create several hundred jobs.
He said Benbrook is changing from a bedroom community to a "suburban city."
"For 60 years, we've been a bedroom community serving the labor needs of Fort Worth and Dallas," Rainey said. "Our shopping has been Hulen Mall and Ridgmar. Now, people have opportunities to shop in Benbrook."
Officials with a bank and a fitness center have expressed interest in the development, Rainey said, declining to name the businesses.
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