Texas A&M Opens First Building on New Downtown Fort Worth Campus
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Texas A&M held a big event last week in Fort Worth that was definitely worthy of the Corps of Cadets and even Reveille herself. Texas A&M-Fort Worth officially opened the first academic building on its new downtown campus last week, marking a major milestone in the university system’s long-term expansion into southeast Fort Worth.
On Wednesday, August 5, the Texas A&M University System opened its eight-story, 228,000-square-foot Law & Education Building and broke ground on the campus’s next major piece, the Research & Innovation Building-A.
Even though the Corps of Cadets and Reveille weren’t on hand for the ceremony, Texas A&M drew a full slate of dignitaries to the opening of its new Fort Worth campus. Mayor Mattie Parker attended the event, along with Texas A&M System Chancellor Glenn Hegar, Board of Regents Chairman Bob Albritton, School of Law Dean Bobby Ahdieh, and other city and county leaders.
The new building is home to the Texas A&M University School of Law, along with programs in engineering, business, healthcare, pharmacy, biotechnology, and medical laboratory sciences. Six A&M System agencies also will operate there.
Officials also broke ground on the 11-story Research & Innovation Building, phase A of a two-phase construction project. This space expected to be about 37,000 square feet will be part of a larger complex, will include space for university researchers, private‑sector partners and state agencies.
Law School Energy
The law school, though, already has rolled out the red carpet, bringing fresh energy along with the aspiring attorneys. Student orientation began this week, and classes begin next week, according to Cliff Smith, senior director of marketing communications for the law school.
The Law & Education Building is the first completed academic building on what Texas A&M envisions as a larger downtown Fort Worth campus. The A&M expansion projects are the first of a five-building campus expected in southeast Fort Worth, a transitional district undergoing steady redevelopment.
The location offers walkable access to the central business district while remaining just outside the Sundance Square core, giving the area room for larger parcels and long‑range planning.
Fort Worth’s Texas A&M campus serves as the anchor for the planned Switchyard Innovation District. This mixed‑use zone is expected to attract research, entrepreneurial ventures and public‑private partnerships. The proximity to major highways, the convention center redevelopment and future commercial projects position the site as a strategic pull for the continued economic growth in southeast downtown.
Housing Needs
That economic pull includes increased housing needs.
“I think we’re on the verge of it affecting a lot,” said Fort Worth Realtor Debbie Hunn. She and her daughter, Realtor Alana Long, comprise The Urban Group with Compass Re Texas and specialize in urban real estate.
They’ve watched as downtown apartment buildings have been built, and demand for central-city living has remained strong. Finding a downtown home to buy, however, can be considerably more difficult.
“The inventory is not very great,” Hunn said. “People who live downtown don’t want to leave here. They don’t want to go. They like it.”
She should know. She and her daughter both have chosen homes in downtown Fort Worth, along with some of the university professors who’ve purchased in the central business district.
“It’s our home, and I love it,” she said.
