Courtesy of The Texas A&M University System
The new campus will have proximity to the Fort Worth Convention Center, Water Gardens, and other downtown landmarks.
Officials overseeing the construction of the Texas A&M-Fort Worth downtown campus have selected a developer.
Edgemoore, a Virginia-based infrastructure and real-estate firm, and Dallas-based KDC will lead the construction of the Research and Innovation building and the Gateway Conference Center, offices, and plaza.
Five other firms will work under Edgemore and KDC, managing design, construction and commercial leasing.
“We were very pleased with the quality of developer and architect teams that presented proposals,” said John Goff, chairman of the Fort Worth Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, which is made up of representatives from the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas A&M and the business community. “While there is work to do to negotiate an agreement with our selected team, I feel confident that they have the qualifications to do an excellent job for A&M and our community.”
Last month, the Texas A&M System announced that Stantec would serve as the architect the Law & Education Building, the first building to be constructed. Stantec will provide lab planning services on the project in partnership with the design architect, Pelli Clarke & Partners.
The construction management teams on the first building will include Turner Construction Company, CARCON Industries, Fort Worth-based Source Building Group Inc., and Dikita Enterprises.
Officials expect to start moving dirt on the Law & Education Building this summer. It is expected to be completed by 2025. All three buildings are expected to be completed in five or six years.
The Texas A&M System will construct the Law & Education Building through financing with bonds backed by the Permanent University Fund and other sources.
Only last week, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents almost doubled the construction budget — from $85 million to $150 million — for the law building in response to greater-than-expected demand for space there.
The other two buildings will be financed with city-issued bonds secured by leases to the A&M System and private sector development firms. The total cost was originally expected to be in the neighborhood of $350 million, though Goff has said he expects the total figure to be significantly more than that.
The Fort Worth City Council in January approved an interlocal agreement that spells out the general terms and conditions the city and Texas A&M will follow in developing the downtown campus.
Construction for the campus will also coincide with a renovated Fort Worth Convention Center and the streets that surround it.
Texas A&M got its start in Fort Worth with the purchase of the Texas Wesleyan Law School in 2013. Two years ago, Fort Worth and Tarrant County officials, along with representatives of the business community, specifically Fort Worth Now (now the Fort Worth Tarrant County Innovation Partnership), invited the Texas A&M System to bring its research and academic infrastructure to the city. Fort Worth is the largest Texas city without a Tier 1 research university, according to officials.