Kent Family Proposes $4.3M Buy of Four Downtown Fort Worth Sites

JUN Crown Properties has proposed a $4.3 million purchase of four city-owned properties at 900-908 Monroe St. in downtown Fort Worth. The deal covers 222,239 square feet across 1.32 acres and includes a 338-space parking garage at 319 W. 10th St. The City Council voted on the sale Oct. 13, with closing expected by Nov. 5. The buyer put down $50,000 in earnest money.

The four properties: 900 Monroe St. (Gordon Swift Building), 908 Monroe St. (Lone Star Gas Building), 910 Monroe St. (a former Water customer parking lot) and 917 Taylor St. (a former employee parking lot).

Wyatt C. Hedrick designed the Lone Star Gas Building in 1929. Three floors were added in 1957 and a 20-foot neon blue flame sign in 1959. The city will repair and reinstall the sign before closing; upkeep shifts to the buyer. The four-story, 42,000-square-foot Gordon Swift Building will be renamed The Winston.

The properties became available after nearly 1,600 city employees relocated to the new City Hall. The city will lease 25 parking spaces in the Pinnacle Garage and 20 in the Burnett Lofts Garage at $120 per space per month. The site sits near the Texas A&M-Fort Worth campus and the Fort Worth Convention Center.

JUN Crown Properties is the Kent family business led by twins Will Churchill and Corrie Watson, great-grandchildren of Frank Kent. The project is a seven-floor mixed-use redevelopment.