The value of commercial building projects in Fort Worth rose to $5.72 billion in 2025, a 19% increase over the previous year, according to a new city report.
Fort Worth’s annual development report shows that commercial building permits increased by 10% with 1,261 permits issued last year compared to 1,145 permits in 2024.
Despite a nationwide economic slowdown, new construction projects are still underway in Fort Worth, according to the report presented to the City Council during a March 31 work session.
Multifamily project building permits decreased 43% after a new state law gave developers greater flexibility with high-density projects by limiting the role of cities in the process. In 2025, the city issued just 146 multifamily building permits compared to 256 the previous year.
Additionally, permits for detached multifamily construction for buildings such as garages dropped by 74% to 222 permits last year after 842 permits were issued in 2024.
Residential building permits dropped slightly — by 1% — from 5,986 in 2024 to 5,950 in 2025 although the number of applications to build new houses increased by 23%. This suggests that some builders are slowing their residential projects.
With a population of 1 million-plus, Fort Worth added more than 18,000 new residents in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released March 25.
Overall, the North Texas metropolitan area showed the second-largest population increase in the country between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025.
Fort Worth’s building permit applications reflect a slight slowdown in the city’s growth.
All building permit applications, including commercial and residential building, through Jan. 1 decreased 3% — 17,093 compared to 17,769 in 2024, according to the development report.
However, permits for all types of building projects are up, including a 25.7% increase in infrastructure plans. Nearly 300 infrastructure permits were issued in 2025 compared to 237 permits in 2024, data shows.
Fort Worth’s permitting process is recognized nationally as a model for efficiency and business-friendly governance.
In November, Labrynth’s AI-driven 2025 Red Tape Index 500 analysis named Fort Worth as the nation’s No. 1 city for speed, clarity and continuous improvement in permitting operations.
“The data tells a clear story about American competitiveness,” Stuart Lacey, CEO of Labrynth, said in a statement. “Cambridge anchors research universities like MIT and Harvard, yet Fort Worth scores more than four times higher on permitting efficiency and has grown faster than any other large city in the U.S. since 2020. This isn’t about resources or talent. It’s about the will to modernize and build systems that serve growth, not stifle it.”
Travis Clegg, a director at Westwood Development Services and chair of the Greater Real Estate Council of Greater Fort Worth, said Austin and Dallas have easier permitting processes.
“I would argue that Fort Worth is not one of the fastest,” he said. “Fort Worth does a good job, especially with a third of the staff as other cities, but it is not always easy.”
Clegg said Fort Worth is complying with Senate Bill 840 to advance multifamily projects and not trying to add other requirements to those types of developments as some cities have.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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