Two buildings on Fort Worth's near west side will be renovated, repurposed

Two buildings on Fort Worth's near west side will be renovated, repurposed

BY Sandra Baker
FORT WORTH -- Two near west side properties, the former Packard Motor Co. dealership and a building used by Fort Worth Bolt & Tool for nearly seven decades, have been sold to new owners who plan to renovate the buildings for offices.

Moore Acquisition Partners in Southlake bought the two-story, 17,000-square-foot Packard building at 1204 W. Seventh St., from Texas Land and Investment Co., which had owned it since 1958. The circa-1925 building is one of the last vestiges of what was once the city's automobile row. In recent years, it has been leased for offices.

A partnership of TLC Urban and Fort Worth's Kostohryz family bought the Fort Worth Bolt & Tool property at 2800 Bledsoe St. Three red brick buildings total about 25,000 square feet and will be renovated into modern office space, said Tony Landrum, a TLC Urban principal.

Fort Worth Bolt & Tool, owned and operated by the Russell family, will move in 2013, although a new location has not yet been picked, the owners said. Lee Russell said it no longer works to have an industrial business in the heart of a neighborhood that is becoming more residential with lots of shopping and restaurants.

"It was a hard decision because we've been there so long," she said.

The company, which sells fasteners, hand tools and portable power tools, has been on Bledsoe since its founding in 1949. The Russells have owned the business and property since 1976.

Michael Bennett, a principal and CEO of the design firm Bennett Benner Pettit, is working on designs for the redevelopment project, Landrum said.