As Frank Sinatra sang, “It was a very good year.”
In this case, not for “city girls who lived up the stairs,” but for Fort Worth economic development.
The city secured $6.2 billion in investments, with $5.3 billion of that in the fiscal third quarter alone, making this already the strongest year in economic development in more than a decade.
That is according to a report from the Fort Worth city manager’s office delivered to the Fort Worth City Council at its Sept. 9 work session.
The total of new and retained jobs was 4,000 for the first three quarters of the year.
There were major project wins such as Taiwanese firm Wistron bringing to Fort Worth more than $650 million in new capital investment and nearly 900 new jobs for two electronics manufacturing plants.
The third quarter also saw the approval of deal terms for the $61 million Evans and Rosedale mixed-use development in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside and helped secure a proposed $620 million expansion of the MTU Maintenance facility at Perot Field, which is expected to bring approximately 1,200 new jobs.
Downtown also saw some projects in the third quarter. The Lancaster Tax Increment Financing zone is supporting the preservation of the Oncor building and former Binyon O’Keefe warehouse by converting it from Class-B office space to 430 new apartments, with 130 affordable units.
The report also highlighted the public-private partnership developing Westside Village, a $1.7 billion mixed-use district that features the largest delivery of new Class-A office space in Fort Worth in the past 40 years.
The future looks bright enough to require some cool Sinatra shades too, according to the Report. Fort Worth’s economic development department has 74 open and active projects, including business recruitment/development and community redevelopment projects waiting in the wings.
Clearing leather
Tandy Leather Factory, which announced its headquarters’ move to Benbrook in February, said it is opening a high-profile location in Artisan Circle in the West 7th district in early 2026.
The company, which dates its history back to 1919 and was part of Charles Tandy’s Tandy Corp. empire, posted a video on its website showing what’s coming, including classroom space, parties and group event space and a station to make products.
A filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shows it will cost $150,000 to outfit the approximately 7,900-square foot space at 2973 Crockett St.
In January, Tandy Leather announced it sold its headquarters, including a store located at 1900 SE Loop 820, to food packaging company Colonna Brothers.
Hiley drives northeast
Arlington-based Hiley Automotive Group expanded its North Texas footprint with the purchase of Lakeside Chevrolet off Interstate 30 in Rockwall. The store will be renamed Hiley Chevrolet and continue operating at the same location. Performance Brokerage Services, a dealership brokerage firm, announced the sale.
Founded in 1990 by Randy Hiley with the opening of Hiley Mazda and Hiley Volkswagen in Arlington, the group is now led by his sons, Jason and Matt. Hiley Automotive has expanded to 14 dealerships across Texas and Alabama.
Digital time
Digital Alpha, an investment firm specializing in digital infrastructure, has invested in Sprocket Networks, a provider of fiber infrastructure.
The capital infusion will be used for an expansion of Sprocket’s fiber network, in particular the Fort Worth Fiber Project, a 300-mile fiber backbone that is already under construction.
The network will provide multi-terabit capacity to support next-generation services for residential, commercial and government services and applications throughout the city.
Mansfield acquisition
Peachtree Group, a commercial real estate investment firm, has acquired a new industrial facility in Mansfield. The 131,040-square-foot rear-load building is fully leased to Ferguson Fire & Fabrication at 800 S. 4th Ave.
Talent, talent, talent
In a twist on the real estate maxim of “location, location, location,” economic development officials are quick to point to the need for talent, i.e. workforce, as key to attracting and retaining businesses to the area.
So it was good news that Dallas-Fort Worth was No. 1 among all large U.S. metros in attracting new workers, according to Lightcast’s 2024 Talent Attraction Scorecard.
According to Lightcast, a global labor market intelligence firm, Dallas-Fort Worth was No. 4 among high-earning jobs and No. 1 in “competitive effect,” which explains how much of job change is due to a region’s unique competitive advantages, rather than overall national trends or industry-specific trends.
While the Dallas-Fort Worth area notched the No. 1 slot, Austin was close behind and also ranked in the top 10 in all categories.
It should be noted that little ol’ Granbury, just outside of Fort Worth, came in No. 5 among small metropolitan areas with between 50,000 to 100,000 in population, scoring a No. 1 in attracting college-educated talent to the town.
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Do you have something for the Bob on Business column? Email Bob Francis, business editor for the Fort Worth Report, at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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