AllianceTexas, the 27,000-acre master-planned, mixed-use community in North Fort Worth, generated about $91.98 billion in regional economic impact and more than $2.8 billion in total taxes paid to local governmental entities since 1990, AllianceTexas said Wednesday in its annual economic impact report.
AllianceTexas, a development of Hillwood, generated $8.24 billion in impact in 2020, exceeding 2019’s impact by “nearly $1 billion – a remarkable business success story set against the backdrop of a global pandemic,” AllianceTexas said in releasing the report, performed annually by Insight Research Corp.
The report takes into consideration the spending underway in the AllianceTexas corridor, with the construction of the Alliance Connector project – the completion of Interstate 35W from U.S. 287 to Eagle Parkway, State Highway 170 from Parrish Road to I-35W, and the Haslet Parkway extension. Construction began in the summer 2020 and is expected to take three years to finish.
“A testament to the public-private partnerships central to the AllianceTexas story, of the $768 million bid, only $25 million was paid by the Texas Department of Transportation,” AllianceTexas said. “The remainder, over $743 million, came from private investment.”
AllianceTexas’ global industrial airport and surrounding logistics hub has consistently grown through the years, and 2020’s pandemic triggered another surge of business at Alliance tenants.
Besides the road projects, AllianceTexas attributed 2020’s strong impact to “exponential growth in the commerce sector, a cornerstone of the AllianceTexas industrial complex,” and continued expansion of the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone. AllianceTexas launched the “MIZ” to lead in developing, deploying, and commercializing next-generation mobility platforms for AllianceTexas tenants, expanding its reach as a leading global industrial airport.
In 2020, Hillwood started the AllianceTexas Flight Test Center, which recently hosted North Texas’ first demonstration of freight delivery by unmanned aircraft with the Bell Autonomous Pod Transport. TuSimple, a global technology company with focused on self-driving heavy-duty trucks, last year launched expanded autonomous trucking operations from the MIZ last year with a Hillwood-developed freight terminal.
“While 2020 will certainly be remembered as one of the most challenging years ever for business, the three decades of partnership and collaboration between the private and public sectors has resulted in remarkably diverse economic success story,” Mike Berry, president of Hillwood, said in a release with the report.
“We’ve continued to focus on sound development fundamentals, while embracing new and innovative technologies that drive efficiency for our customers,” he said. “Though we all have experienced significant difficulties during the past year, AllianceTexas continues to prove its sustainability as an economic engine for the state of Texas and a place where business can thrive during the toughest of circumstances.”
Since its inception in 1989, more than 53 million square feet of assorted commercial real estate have been developed at AllianceTexas. The development is home to more than 530 companies, directly employing 63,000 people. The hub has connected North Texas to industry worldwide.
Total investment at AllianceTexas surpassed $11.9 billion in 2020, with $10.9 billion coming from the private sector, the report said. “Public investment totaling more than $955 million has been invested in the project to date, representing a 12-to-1 private-to-public-dollar investment multiple.”
AllianceTexas generates property taxes to 13 entities.