City Changer — Why Crescent’s New $250 Million Fort Worth Development is Such a Vital Cultural District Piece

One of the final pieces of Fort Worth’s museum land puzzle will soon fill in. It will be the first-ever Crescent development in the city.

Fort Worth’s Van Cliburn Way runs in between two of America’s finest museums ― The Kimbell and its neighbor, the Modern Art Museum. As the street crosses Camp Bowie, there are some long cleared and vacant lots just begging to be filling in with development. How to best utilize this prime real estate in Fort Worth’s Cultural District has been hotly debated for years.

Now, we know how it actually will be used. Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate LLC is planning to build a major mixed-use development on those lots called Museum Place. The $250 million project will include a premier boutique hotel with a chef-driven restaurant, luxury residential buildings and a Class A office building. The offices will now be home to Crescent Real Estate, Goff Capital, Inc., Contango Oil & Gas, and Canyon Ranch.

“We are excited to bring a first-class mixed-use project to the Cultural District,” John Goff, the billionaire chairman of Crescent, says in a statement.

The Museum Place project will be located at the juncture of Van Cliburn Way and Camp Bowie, with easy access to Dickies Arena and Will Rogers Coliseum. Groundbreaking for the long-awaited $250-million development is scheduled to take place this summer, and the project is expected to open in mid-2023.

The vast portfolio of Crescent Real Estate, of course, includes the company’s crown jewel The Crescent in Dallas, along with other topnotch hospitality and office developments.

“The Crescent brand is known around the country for our luxury hotel, office, and residential properties,” Goff says. “Now, for the first time, we are coming home. I’ve lived in Fort Worth since 1981. We are going to build the finest hotel in the city that we hope will become the living room of Fort Worth.

“We can’t wait to bring the Crescent brand to Fort Worth in a major way.”

What’s Coming From Crescent with Museum Place

Specifically, the new Fort Worth mega development will include:

— A 200-room, luxury boutique hotel, including a restaurant, a rooftop lounge, and 8,000 square feet of ballroom/meeting space.

— A landscaped courtyard that will host outdoor dining, events and social activities.

— 160,000 square feet of Class A office space offering businesses the chance to office within the Cultural District.

— The headquarters for Crescent Real Estate, Goff Capital Inc., Contango Oil & Gas, and Canyon Ranch.

— 175 luxury residential units.