Texas A&M System building new Fort Worth campus
The Texas A&M University System and Area Managers are planning a new campus in downtown Fort Worth to support job growth in North Texas.
The system builds a center to foster collaboration between industrial, research, education and labor partners in the region. The campus will also include a new law school.
Texas A&M system officials expect the groundbreaking ceremony to take place next summer.
“The A&M system is a Texas-sized commitment to Fort Worth,” said Chancellor John Sharp in a press release.
The university plans to build the Texas A&M System Research and Innovation Center next to a new Education Alliance Building to house conferences and courses. Other system schools can use the center’s premises as well as Tarleton State University.
Texas A&M is working with a member of the system, Tarleton, to move its health-related offerings to the new campus. The buildings would be built in phases, starting with the research center.
Programs available at the center include emergency communications, medical technologies, advanced manufacturing, nutrition, biotechnology, medical laboratory science, and nursing.
Texas A&M owns four blocks downtown and the city has nearby lots that may become available near the Fort Worth Convention Center and Water Gardens. A few blocks away is a University of Texas satellite location at Arlington.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said this is an opportunity for the city to rethink its downtown investments to create additional infrastructure while “transforming Fort Worth’s architecture for the future.”
Having a Tier 1 research facility “pushes the needle in Fort Worth to be world-class innovators,” she said.
“Higher education needs to meet the needs of a changing labor demand … we want to be at the center,” said Parker. “This campus really allows us to do that and be on the front lines.”
The university’s investment will help nurture talent for businesses in Fort Worth while also providing student opportunities, said Chris Strayer, executive vice president of economic development for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
Various industries and markets are expanding in the region, with technology and advanced manufacturing adding to their project pipeline that “has never been more robust,” he added.
“We have a lot of projects, a lot of interest from companies outside our community looking to invest in our community and create jobs,” said Strayer.
The diversity of universities and programs only strengthens Fort Worth’s entire workforce, he said.
Fort Worth officials were not treating this as a regular real estate transaction to meet the needs of a growing economy due to the campus’ potential transformative impact on the city, Parker said. Instead, they acted as conveners to facilitate relationships and introductions while reducing as many barriers as possible.
“This was an opportunity to truly change Fort Worth for the better for generations, and so the city really became that partner … to make everything possible,” she said.
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