The 701, a 68,000-square-foot mixed-use development on the Near Southside is bringing a new corporate headquarters to the area and new businesses and residences to the area.
The project, from Dodson Commercial Real Estate, is at the corner of Hemphill Street and West Magnolia Avenue and includes 26,000 square feet of new office space and a new restaurant from Chef Marcus Paslay of From Scratch Hospitality.
The building will be home to Walloon’s, a new seafood-focused American grill set to open next summer.
“We never start with a restaurant concept and try to find a home,” said Paslay, whose other restaurant concepts include Clay Pigeon, Piatello and Provender Hall. “Instead, we discover a neighborhood we want to be a part of and develop a concept to complement the existing people and tastes! I believe that Walloon’s will do just that,” he said. “We’ve had our eye on this neighborhood for quite some time and wanted to become a part of the growing community.”
Coming to the new building will be the headquarters for VLK Architects, the Fort Worth firm that were also the architects of the project.
VLK Architect will take 26,000 square feet of new office space that will house more than 100 employees.
“VLK wanted a walkable space and wanted to be in an area like the Near Southside, so this is perfect for them,” said Ryan Dodson, president of Dodson Commercial Real Estate.
The 701 project includes the refurbishment of an existing building and a new building to the south of the existing storefront on Magnolia Street, which houses Shinjuku Station.
“It’s a vibrant neighborhood. It’s got a lot of charm and character, and we love doing projects here because we can be creative,” said Dodson. “We get to work with fun tenants, we get to work with people who share our vision and passion for just doing cool things and doing projects that fit into the neighborhood.”
Michael Crain, City Council member representing District 3, said the project fits into the surrounding community.
“This project has taken this building that’s already here and developed it out and put more commercial space in an area that needs it,” he said.
Crain is also pleased that The 701 adds more commercial development to the inner city, a focus for the city as it struggles with how to manage development on the edges of the city.
“There’s a lot about urban sprawl which I deal with that west part of Fort Worth, and the cost to develop that out while we’re trying to figure out our urban core and what that looks like,” he said. “We want to encourage urban core development and you can deliver city services more efficiently when it’s a denser sort of product,” he said.
The 701 also includes The Paseo plaza that will feature small pop-up style shop spaces for new, emerging concepts and serves to unite the three buildings (both new and existing) and a new on-site 200-car parking garage. Those additions reflect the walkable nature of the Southside and may help solve some of the parking issues in the neighborhood, said Dodson.
New Businesses Set to Open
● VLK Architects, one of the state’s largest architecture firms, is officially open and operational. [26,000 square feet, 4th floor]
● Texas Health Resources will open a specialty clinic in the new development, slated for completion in early 2023. [3,500 square feet, 3rd floor]
● Monument Realty, the Frisco-founded and official real estate company of the Dallas Cowboys, will open its second Fort Worth office at The 701. The opening is slated for completion in early 2023. [5,273 square feet, 3rd floor]
● Walloon’s, the seafood-focused American grill from Chef Marcus Paslay. The concept will feature a raw bar with oysters on the half-shell and shrimp cocktail and American grill classics like steak frites, mussels, large-format salads, and sandwiches. The concept will be on the ground floor of the development on the corner of Magnolia of Hemphill in the old bank building. Paslay and Scratch Hospital
are currently dreaming up big ideas for the existing bank vault. The restaurant is slated for completion in early summer 2023.
Existing businesses
● Shinjuku Station – an izakaya-style restaurant that serves traditional small plates – perfect for sharing. Located at 711 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth 76104.
● Link Construction – a boutique commercial construction firm specializing in tenant finish-out and ground-up construction.
Outdoor Space + Community Elements
● Paseo – Iconic experience-driven project amenity for tenants and guests of the project.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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