Energy firm reveals plans for HQ in Fort Worth Stockyards next to hundreds of apartments
An oil and gas company intends to move corporate headquarters into the historic Armour & Co. meat packing plant in the Fort Worth Stockyards once the building is renovated in 2024.
Meanwhile, developer Kairoi Residential now says it will start construction in August on hundreds of new apartments that will be adjacent to the Armour building, on the eastern edge of Exchange Avenue.
The new details emerged Thursday about what will be one of the most significant developments in the Stockyards since Mule Alley opened in mid-2020, with shops, restaurants and the Hotel Drover on the south side of Exchange Avenue. The Armour renovation and Kairoi apartments will extend the Stockyards district to the east, on mostly vacant land that was once a sprawling complex of meat processing plants alongside railroad tracks.
The oil and gas company, U.S. Energy Development Corporation, will move its headquarters from Arlington to the red-brick Armour building. The privately held company revealed Wednesday that it had acquired the 51,000-square-foot building at 601 E. Exchange Ave. from Kairoi in August 2022.
Kairoi Residential, based in San Antonio, has been mum in recent months about its plans for apartments on adjacent since the proposed development raised questions with city leaders about the impact on the historic district. But the company now says it will begin construction within weeks on about 420 apartment units between Packers Street and the railroad tracks.
The apartments construction is expected to finish in about 32 months. Kairoi will expand the development on a building-by-building basis depending on the market, said Tyler Sibley, a principal for Kairoi.
“It could be additional residential, office, hotel, retail or a mix of those uses,” Sibley told the Star-Telegram. “Really there’s lots of different uses that are allowed on that site, but ultimately the final determination will be market dependent and just how we see the district continue to redevelop and mature over time.”
Sibley says the city of Fort Worth will allow Kairoi to build up to 749 apartment units over 17 acres if the company chooses to go in that direction. The Star-Telegram confirmed this in a letter sent in February from a city attorney to the developer.
Plans for the Armour building
U.S. Energy, founded in 1980, is an exploration and production firm that manages assets and has invested in or operated about 4,000 wells in 13 states and Canada. Its current operations headquarters in Arlington is in the eight-story Skymark Tower on Cooper Street next to Interstate 35. U.S. Energy also has an office in Buffalo, New York.
The company expects to move into the renovated Armour building in the third quarter of 2024.
The company says it employs 54 people in Arlington and 76 nationally. It is unclear if and how many new jobs will be created with the move, or how many indirect jobs could be generated through U.S. Energy’s investment in the building.
The company intends to lease out remaining office space to third-party tenants.
Jordan Jayson, CEO of U.S. Energy, said the company is dedicated to delivering class-A office space that will bring pride to the city and the Stockyards while preserving the Armour building’s historical significance.
“Our goal is to create a project that seamlessly blends with the culture and distinct surroundings of the Stockyards,” Jayson said. “We look forward to collaborating with the city of Fort Worth and our neighbors to realize this vision.”
Renovations will include improving landscape and parking, developing outdoor amenities space and creating covered parking structures. It will also involve adding elevators, lobby areas, restrooms, and a roof deck. There is also an option to add a 2,700 square feet of mezzanine space.
The estimated $8 million project is a collaboration between architects at Bennett Partners, construction firm Whiting Turner and KRS Realty Advisors.
Kerby Smith, founder and principal of KRS Realty Advisors, said the more than 70-year-old building has significant history and is in relatively good shape for its years.
“This is a really unique opportunity to save a historic building as a part of the story of the Stockyards and to breathe new life into it,” Smith said. “And also to welcome to the Stockyards a great company in U.S. Energy and become their headquarters for the foreseeable future.”
The Armour complex opened with eight buildings in 1903 alongside the Swift & Co. plant. More buildings were added throughout the 1950s, including the 601 E. Exchange Ave. property.
After the Armour plant closed in 1962, Bunge Edible Oil refined soybean and corn oil there for more than 30 years. In 2012, all of the buildings were demolished, except 601 E. Exchange Ave.
This is not the first time developers have looked at transforming the historic Armour property. In 2017, the Fort Worth City Council approved $1 million in incentives to turn the former plant into a $21 million, four-star Armour Hotel with 120 rooms.
That project never came to fruition, but in 2021 the Hotel Drover opened along the redeveloped Mule Alley with new shops and restaurants off Exchange Avenue.
