Central Arlington Heights Property Acquisition & Drainage Improvements

  • Project typeDrainage Improvements
  • Project value$7,168,000
Drainage Improvements

December 15, 2023

The City plans to move forward with the sale and redevelopment of the 9 Central Arlington Heights properties and will bring the request to City Council for approval of the sale in early 2024.  More information available in the project news dropdown menu.

 

October 7, 2022

Update on the demolition of the property at 2209/2211 Western Ave. 

There has been a slight delay getting the electric service removed from the structure, so the demo will begin on Wednesday or Thursday of next week rather than Monday and will last 1-2 days.  Fence improvements cannot be started until the demo is complete, so the fence construction has been rescheduled to start Monday, October 17 and should last 1-2 days. 

 

Previous 2022 updates 

The City’s Stormwater Program has been working for years with the Arlington Heights neighborhood, to identify a feasible, affordable and acceptable solution to the flooding issues in this flood-prone urban neighborhood. After years of studies and capital projects designed to provide some measure of flood relief to the overall neighborhood, a public meeting was held in October of 2018, to discuss the concept of voluntary acquisition of homes in the most flood-prone area in the neighborhood, in order to provide direct relief to homeowners living in the area of mapped non-FEMA flood risk with the most reported and repetitive flooding incidents. The City then moved forward with voluntary acquisition of eleven properties on Western and Carleton, as the most effective and affordable way to reduce flood risk in this area with the plan to construct stormwater detention if enough contiguous properties could be acquired.

To date, nine of the properties have been voluntarily acquired with Stormwater funding only.  Acquisition of the remaining two properties, using funding from a FEMA grant, is currently in progress and expected to be completed in the late Summer/early Fall of 2022. The two properties being acquired with FEMA grant funding will have the houses demolished and will need to remain greenspace in perpetuity per FEMA grant requirements.  Due to the concerns of some residents about the proposed stormwater detention concept, the City decided to offer the nine properties acquired with City only funding for redevelopment above flood risk levels with the detention and greenspace option still on the table if no acceptable offer is received.  Feedback on the redevelopment concept and the type of development the community would like to see constructed in the neighborhood was determined by working closely with leadership from the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association. 

A virtual public meeting for the homeowners on Western and Carleton Avenues between Bryce and El Campo was held on May 19, 2022, to communicate and get feedback on the redevelopment concept. More information about this can be found under the drop down tabs below.

Based on the feedback received at and after the meeting, the City updated the language in the redevelopment concept to remove some of the design to simplify the design criteria for prospective offerors, while still reflecting the input of community representatives. The City is continuing to refine these redevelopment documents so they will be ready for the sale of the property.

Additionally, the City is also listening to feedback received after the meeting that many property owners on Western and Carleton between Bryce and El Campo may prefer the greenspace and detention concept over the redevelopment concept. 

More conversations will be held in the future to gain more feedback to inform the City’s next steps.

To learn more:

Project news

 

December 15, 2023

The City plans to move forward with the sale and redevelopment of the 9 Central Arlington Heights properties and will bring the request to City Council for approval of the sale in early 2024.   

 

The addresses of the properties are: 

• 2201/2203 Western Avenue, 2205 Western Avenue, 2213 Western Avenue, and 2221 Western Avenue

• 2212 Carleton Avenue, 2216 Carleton Avenue, 2220 Carleton Avenue, 2224 Carleton Avenue, and 2300 Carleton Avenue

 

These 9 properties were listed for sale on August 18, 2023, with a sealed bid deadline of November 30, 2023.  Due to the number of questions received from interested bidders, the bid deadline was extended one week and closed on December 7, 2023.  Ultimately, only one bid was received. It was for $100,000.00 from Groove Improvement, LLC.  The bidder proposes to elevate 8 of the 9 structures if technically or structurally feasible and in accordance with Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.  The 9th structure, the newer slab-on-grade home at 2205 Western Avenue, is proposed to be demolished and rebuilt two feet above flood level.

 

The bid complies with the requirements outlined in the sealed bid purchase agreement and is higher than the appraised value of the property of -$819,031, which took into account the cost to redevelop the sites in accordance with the redevelopment requirements. 

 

The bidder plans to preserve as many of the existing trees as possible, as well as provide flood mitigation benefits through low impact development techniques, such as permeable paving, gutters connected to rain barrel/rain harvesting systems, rain gardens or bioswales, and French drains.  The developer is also committed to salvaging to the extent practicable.   

 

As a reminder, the redevelopment guidelines were informed from discussions with neighborhood residents and focused on: 

• Redeveloping the properties above flood risk (either by elevating the existing 9 structures, or demolishing and constructing new structures, at least 2 feet above the 100-year flood level, or a combination of the two), 

• Demonstrating how redevelopment will not increase flood risk to surrounding properties and how nearby properties will be protected during redevelopment,  

• Requiring new construction to have a similar look and feel to the existing homes in the area, and  

• Completing redevelopment within 48 months of closing 

 

As you may recall, the bids were to be scored and evaluated by both the City and a community stakeholder group.  Since only one bid was received and it fulfills the requirements of the bid package, review and evaluation by community stakeholders is not necessary. Before moving forward with redevelopment, the bidder will hold a community meeting to discuss their redevelopment plans with Western and Carleton Avenue property owners and any interested parties. 

 

As we get closer to bringing forward the formal request to sell the properties for redevelopment to City Council, we will provide the community with an update and the date of the planned Council action. 

  

This sale does not include 2209/2211 Western Avenue or 2217/2219 Western Avenue.  These properties were purchased with FEMA grant funding and have already been cleared of structures. They will never be permitted to have permanent structures on them per FEMA regulations. It is possible these two properties could be used as extensions of the yards of the adjacent properties in the future through an agreement with the City.  At this time, the City regularly maintains these properties. 

 

Design Standards and Guidelines

For additional information regarding this project, contact Project Manager Jennifer Dyke with the City of Fort Worth at 817-392-2714 or Jennifer.Dyke@fortworthtexas.gov.

Location

2300 Carleton Avenue, Fort Worth 76107  View Map

Google Map