From left: Doreen Bruner and Doug Hafer stand on stage as Joe Bruner and Maggie Campbell hug at the Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. Joe and Doreen Bruner were recipients of the Dream Builder award, presented by Texas Trust.
The Downtown Arlington Management Corp. hosted its annual meeting Wednesday at the Bluebonnet Ballroom at the University Center.
Several speakers provided updates and visions for downtown and updates on the future of UTA’s campus.
Maggie Campbell, Downtown Arlington Management Corp. president and CEO, and Garret Martin, Downtown Arlington Management Corp. vice president, gave updates about the downtown area, going over what the management corporation has done in the past few years.
Maggie Campbell, president and CEO of the Downtown Arlington Management Corp., speaks during the 2025 Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. Campbell has worked in downtown revitalization and development for more than 25 years.
They’ve seen the growth of programs such as First Thursdays, achieving 51,000 visitors in the first full year of the program, and the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market, which saw 20,000 visits since its launch in March and over 1 million social media impressions.
The downtown dog park, Doggie Depot, and the Rotary Dream Park also saw their grand openings.
Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton speaks during the 2025 Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. Under his leadership, the city has invested more than $2.2 billion in public infrastructure.
Martin said none of the new programs or improvements could have been done without the renewal of the Business Improvement District.
The Arlington Ambassadors program was launched around two years ago. The ambassadors serve as the “eyes and ears” of the downtown community and help keep the district clean and safe, according to the Downtown Arlington Management Corp. website. They have cleaned around 36,588 pounds of trash from the city.
Doug Kozma, vice president and campus planning strategist at SmithGroup, gave updates on the UTA master plan and what the campus might look like in the future.
“As we engage into the future we expect to have more faculty, more students, more staff and more research making an impact on our campus in our community,” Kozma said.
Tillie Burgin, executive director of Mission Arlington, leads the program invocation during the 2025 Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. This year’s meeting was themed “Be a Visionary.”
He said UTA is projecting an accommodation of up to 10,000 additional students on campus, which will increase the need to grow.
“UTA is, I would say, like an adult campus trying to fit into adolescent clothing,” Kozma said.
He said the teams designing and planning out the details are talking about adding several thousand beds, expanding the University Center and augmenting the recreation and athletic assets.
“This is going to make the students’ lives a lot better and UTA a better place,” Kozma said.
President Jennifer Cowley listens to a presentation during the 2025 Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. Doug Kozma, vice president and campus planning strategist at SmithGroup, presented a preview of the UTA campus master plan, outlining how the campus will evolve over the next 25 years.
There are also plans to build a hotel conference center on Cooper Street that would be connected to the hospitality program and new mixed-use parking structures.
The research going into the master plan includes five campus community open houses, 41 focus group sessions and 15 on-campus pop-up sessions to collect data.
“Walking here this morning, this afternoon, reminds me of how powerful and great it is to be at a great urban environment and on a great American campus,” Kozma said.
City Manager Trey Yelverton talked about future updates for the city, and talked about the new Caravan Hotel, the space around the city tower and spaces that could see development, such as the Chase building, City Hall west parking lot and the UTA social work block.
Garret Martin, vice president of the Downtown Arlington Management Corp., claps while giving a speech during the 2025 Downtown Arlington Annual Meeting on Oct. 22 at the Bluebonnet Ballroom in the University Center. Topics discussed included building on the vision for the next 10 years.
“I can tell you with 100% confidence the demand for downtown real estate, the project has never been higher,” he said. “It is red hot. There’s a lot of opportunities.”
Yelverton said there are areas like the parking lot around the city tower that could see future development. The Chase building went on sale and he said that it doesn’t take much for someone to imagine what could happen with that land.
“I’m proud to be able to reflect back on what’s been achieved and equally challenged by trying to do more of that in the future,” Yelverton said.
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