Fort Worth proposes giving UT Arlington $4 million to build Parker County campus

The city of Fort Worth could use $4 million from a special economic development fund to help build the University of Texas at Arlington’s new campus.

The city is considering a possible agreement with the university that would fund road and utility construction, according to a council presentation Tuesday.

Half of the funds from the city’s agreement would be dolled out to the university within 90 days of the City Council signing off, with the rest of the money to come after UTA has finished construction.

This is not one of the city’s typical economic incentives in which the funds are contingent upon a developer delivering a certain number of jobs or a certain amount of economic value, said the city’s economic development director Robert Sturns.

“This is an investment in the future of our talent and our workforce,” he said.

Sturns also noted the UTA West campus is the latest in a string of investments from educational institutions, including Texas A&M Fort Worth , TCU’s Burnett School of Medicine and Tarleton State University.

“We joked as city staff that we should change our slogan from where the west begins to where education begins,” he said.

The university announced plans on Aug. 5 to purchase 51 acres just south of the the intersection of Walsh Ranch Parkway and Interstate 30.

UTA would be responsible for all the construction, and required to have 15% of the work performed by business equity firms , according to the presentation.

UTA plans to build nine buildings on the campus, which could serve as many as 12,000 students when fully constructed.

The university is expected to house programs focusing on engineering, social work, nursing, public health, public policy and business, according to the City Council presentation.

The north half of the campus is expected to open in 2028, accepting 1,000 students initially before ramping up to 5,000 students by 2043.

Fort Worth business and government leaders have lauded UTA’s decision to build a new campus on the western edge of Fort Worth. They’ve argued it will be a catalyst for development in one of the fastest growing parts of the Metroplex.

The campus would be UTA’s third in Fort Worth after the research center in east Fort Worth and its satellite campus downtown.

UTA is one of the largest public university’s in the state with 41,000 students enrolled and roughly 162,000 alumni living in North Texas contributing $22.7 billion in economic impact, according to university statistics, according to university statistics

It’s also a Tier One research university after surpassing benchmarks set by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in 2021.

The City Council will vote on the agreement at its 10 a.m. meeting on Aug. 27.