Spotlight on Downtown Fort Worth, TX

Neighborhood: As the commercial and cultural hub of Fort Worth, Downtown represents the city’s premier destination for hospitality, dining, shopping, entertainment, and urban living. Its dense development profile leaves little to be desired as it offers Class A skyscrapers to multinational businesses as well as quaint historical buildings to local enterprises. In terms of shopping, tourists and locals alike can wander down the red brick-lined avenues to discover unique boutiques and nationally recognized retail spaces, ranging from Pappagallo Classiques to the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop. This eclectic mix of successful and synergistic multi-use properties has paid dividends in getting this area noticed. In fact, it was recently named the “best downtown in the nation,” by livability.com. Entertainment options abound as visitors are greeted by the state-of-the-art Bass Performance Hall, the refreshing Fort Worth Water Gardens, or one of the many nightlife establishments, such as the Scat Jazz Lounge.

History and Future: A lot of credit goes towards native businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass who was inspired to breathe new life into the declining and lackluster Downtown Fort Worth of the early 1980s. He aimed to revitalize downtown into a pedestrian-friendly, lively setting that he had witnessed in the streets of D.C., as design by noted architect David Schwarz. Bass went on to hire Schwarz to create multiple traditional-style edifices to match and fill out the old-fashioned existing architecture and within a few years Sundance Square was born. The 35-block multi-use complex is energy-sustainable, interspersed with lush green parks and furnishes visitors with over 3 million square feet of top-echelon retail and office space. Moreover, staple buildings such as the Burk Burnett or the Woolworth Building, while perfectly blended into the revitalized ambiance, have found their way into the National Register of Historic Places. This intermingling of past, present and future has been a hallmark of Downtown Fort Worth since day one and remains central to this day.