The details
According to a city news release, the funds will be transferred from the city’s general fund to the Research and Innovation Local Government Corporation, which is located at 1401 Calhoun St. in Fort Worth. The council also approved the RILGC to issue up to $18 million in bonds to further fund the building’s construction and associated parking infrastructure.
The news release states over the next 12 months, Texas A&M and its developer will finalize plans for the Research & Innovation Building’s design, construction, financing and leasing.
The backstory
According to a news release, Texas A&M-Fort Worth is a first-of-its-kind public-private collaboration intended to boost the regional economy while anchoring an innovation district in southeast downtown. The city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County are collaborating with the Texas A&M System to construct two additional campus buildings over four city blocks—once part of Fort Worth’s infamous Hell’s Half Acre in the late 1800s—owned by the A&M System.
A news release states besides the Research & Innovation Building, other buildings part of the downtown campus include:
- An eight-story Law & Education Building that will be the new home for the Texas A&M School of Law as well as other academic offerings by Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Health and Tarleton State University
- The Gateway Building that will house offices, more classroom and meeting spaces and a conference center
