Fort Worth’s Near Southside Primed To Become Innovative Economic Force

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Earlier this year, Fort Worth leaders had plans for a first-of-its-kind medical innovation district south of downtown, an ambitious undertaking that could attract medical-related enterprises to the city and potentially could become an innovation hub.

A new JLL report shows just how much Near Southside has grown over the years—with the potential to become a major medical hub. The city’s plan would connect existing medical institutions and organizations with startups and business incubators with hopes to attract thousands of additional healthcare and technology-related jobs to the area, according to JLL’s report.

Near Southside is already home to major healthcare centers such as Cook Children’s Healthcare System, Texas Health Harris Methodist, Baylor Scott & White, and Medical City Fort Worth.

The 1,400-acre area known as the Medical Innovation District called Near Southside (PHOTO CREDIT: Fort Worth Economic Development Department)

In the report, JLL examines the history and future of the 1,400-acre area called Near Southside. JLL refers to the Fort Worth district as “an emerging mixed-use district” where some of the city’s newest retail, office, and multifamily housing projects are located. The area has roughly 30,000 people employed within its boundaries, making it the second largest employment center in Tarrant County outside of downtown Fort Worth.

INTERACTIVE MAP: JLL map shows the growth from 2007 to 2019 in the Near Southside

The Near Southside area was first developed in the early 1900s in the area north of the Fairmont residential neighborhood. A nonprofit, member-funded organization called Near Southside Inc. was formed in 1995 to look after the area’s development. The nonprofit also manages Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District No. 4, which was created in 1997 to help with revitalization efforts.

In the ensuing years, Near Southside has seen major economic growth. The district’s taxable value was $229.7 million in 1997 and $729.3 million in 2017, according to JLL. Near Southside is projected to have increased its base value by just over 350 percent to over $1 billion by fiscal year 2024.

Improved Infrastructure And Housing Growth

Infrastructure in the area has been improved with the 2014 retrofit of West Rosedale Street from a six-lane road to a four-lane street with bike lanes, on-street parking, and pedestrian improvements. An $8.5 million reconstruction of South Main Street also happened last year.

The Hemphill-Lamar Connector, a $53 million tunnel under Interstate 30 with rail lines providing another downtown route, is scheduled to open in 2020.

Housing in the area has also seen growth in recent years with roughly 2,000 multifamily units having been built since 2000 and three more currently under construction. On top of this, an additional 300 units have been proposed, including a 10-story mixed-use project.

A proposed 2.1-mile extension of TEXRail southwest would add a new station to serve the major hospitals in Near Southside. Those hospitals provide a major economic and employment base for the area, according to JLL.

According to a 2014 study by the University of North Texas, the healthcare facilities in Near Southside have an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion for the city of Fort Worth and $5.5 billion throughout Tarrant County.

Robert Sturns, the economic development director for the city of Fort Worth, told Dallas Innovates earlier this year that the hope is Near Southside would “become the most livable medical district in the U.S.”

Creating a medical innovation district in Near Southside was a key finding from the Economic Development Plan accepted by the City Council at the end of 2017. The plan’s goal is to compete successfully on the national and international stage for “creative, high-growth businesses and the talented individuals who fuel them.”

The University of Texas at Arlington’s Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions and Dollars was contracted to study the district’s needs and strengths, and Schaefer Advertising is expected to develop messaging and a brand for Near Southside Inc.

Near Southside has been a focus of innovative thinking in placemaking for years. The Brookings Institute’s global urbanization specialist Bruce Katz noted in 2016 that the area was “one of the most eclectic micro-economies I’ve ever encountered,” featuring everything from cultural and fine arts to hospitals and beer and whiskey manufacturing.

 

Source: Dallas Innovates

Tax Advantage Group Closes $8.5 Million Faith Family Medical Center to Continue Support in Federal Promise Zones

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Tax Advantage Group LLC (TAG), a consulting firm specializing in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing, recently closed its third NMTC transaction in a Federal Promise Zone with the funding of Faith Family Medical Center (FFMC), located in Nashville, Tennessee.

There are 22 Federal Promise Zones, which are defined by The US Department of Housing and Urban Development as high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community.

FFMC, is a non-profit medical center providing health, wellness and medical services to the working uninsured and other underserved people in Middle Tennessee.  They are currently operating out of an aging, undersized facility located in a community with 46.2% poverty.  With the help of Reinvestment Fund and SunTrust Community Capital, they were able to leverage a successful capital campaign through a NMTC financing structure to finance a new medical center, doubling their capacity, in the Nashville Federal Promise Zone.

“When we began our capital campaign to build a larger facility, we planned to build a 10,000 square foot one story building on our current property. When we heard about the NMTC program, we began to dream about the possibility of building something even bigger,” saidLaura Hobson, FFMC’s President and CEO.  Hobson went on to say, “through Tax Advantage Group’s leadership in walking us through the NMTC journey, we are now able to build a two story 17,000 square foot building that will allow us to grow and widen our reach even more. The expansion of our services would not be possible without the NMTC program, and that program would have been unattainable if it weren’t for Tax Advantage Group’s diligent work and guidance throughout the process.”

The financial closing of FFMC represented the newest transformative deal financed by Tax Advantage Group in a Federal Promise Zone, with all three totaling nearly $60 million of NMTC, including:

Swiss Krono, Barnwell, SC – $42.25 million of NMTC financing was provided to this Non-Metropolitan Operating Business for the construction of a high-density fiberboard production facility collocated with their existing engineered flooring line, making them one of the largest employers in the South Carolina Low Country Promise Zone; and

Ascension St. Vincent YMCA, Evansville, IN – This $9 million NMTC financing package supported an $18.1 million facility combining a 10,000 square-foot primary care center with a new 70,000 square foot YMCA which, in addition to serving over 12,000 low-income residents, replaces the over 100-year-old original Downtown YMCA located in the Evansville, Indiana Promise Zone with 37.5% poverty.

TAG has structured and facilitated NMTC investments totaling over $716 million to 55 businesses and non-profits across the United States. The funds supplement over $1.1 billion in combined financing. To date, TAG‘s portfolio has created 12,736 direct jobs; served over 332,000 clients through its nonprofit investments; and helped create over 6.3 million square-feet of new and improved commercial and industrial real estate.

Aimed at stimulating investment and economic growth in low-income communities (LICs), TAG‘s current portfolio consists of investments in areas with poverty rates as high as 66.6%, median family income as low as 14.24%, and unemployment rates as high as 31.2%.

TAG NMTC Program Senior Manager Pete Byford, said, “We could not have delivered these financially sound, impactful projects without our investors, our amazing borrowers, and our community partners.”

 

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Why Healthcare Is Returning to the Campus Model

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For the past several years, healthcare operators have spread out ancillary services, like dialysis and oncology. Now, healthcare providers are returning to the campus model, consolidating services in a medical campus setting. Rising demand for these services and a customer preference to the campus model is fueling the new trend.

“The expansion has been fueled by the demand of the healthcare consumers to have their healthcare services located near their homes,” Bryan Lewitt, managing director at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. “In most cases healthcare consumers do not live close to the hospital campuses. This has forced the hospital systems operators other and other ancillaries service providers to relocate their services to the community where they want to serve.”

In addition to demand, the campus model is also more sustainable, particularly due to a changing regulatory environment.

“After being in the community in the past five to seven years the hospital system operators are finding it very difficult to run a profitable business off-campus. Due to all the regulations placed upon hospitals and reduced reimbursements most of their off-campus ventures are losing money,” says Lewitt. “However, in some instances where the hospital system has a very good market share in a very wealthy neighborhoods off campus locations work for them.”

This shift in strategy has had a major impact on leasing activity for both on- and off-campus medical buildings.

“There are many well located retail centers that have been beneficiaries of healthcare providers to their centers,” says Lewitt. “Currently 10% of all healthcare facilities in Southern California are located is in a retail center. This has doubled from only 10 years ago. Secondly, off-campus medical buildings have also benefited. The off-campus medical buildings have benefited because it is now acceptable for the investors and the financing world to value these off-campus buildings close to an on campus medical building due to the credit of these tenancies.”

Smaller medical start-up models will be most impacted by the new trend.

“The major shift is for the vacuum of hospital operators going back to the campuses for the disruptors. The disruptors have less regulations and they are not embroiled in a mission like many of the hospitals,” says Lewitt. “They also know how to make money. Therefore, we see smaller start-ups and publicly back companies looking for off-campus locations to fill the void of where the hospital operators wanted to be in the past.”

 

Source:  GlobeSt.