Robert Francis, Fort Worth Business Press:
Fresh Market is coming to Fort Worth.
Following up on its recent announcement of its first Tarrant County location in Southlake, the specialty grocery chain plans to open at West Bend, the Trademark Property Co. mixed-use development on University Drive.
Scheduled to open in early 2015, Fresh Market will be a 21,000-square-foot European-style market on the southeast corner of the WestBend project on University Drive, directly across from University Park Village. Demolition of a parking garage is now complete and construction will soon begin on the new 81,150-square-foot building featuring 23,500 square feet of retail, including Fresh Market and a trailside café, and 57,650 square feet of Class A office space above. A new traffic light will be added as part of the expansion plans to improve traffic flow in and out of the project.
Also coming to WestBend will be Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, the first Fort Worth location for the restaurant. The 3,950-square-foot Grimaldi’s will be located along the Trinity River and includes a large trailside outdoor patio and roll up doors creating and indoor/outdoor bar area. Grimaldi’s is scheduled to open early spring 2015.
“The Fresh Market and Grimaldi’s will be great additions to WestBend and the University District,” said Trademark CEO Terry Montesi in a news release. “We are pleased to be able to expand the retail footprint of our hometown’s premier urban lifestyle retail district. The strong sales at University Park Village across the street have created tremendous pent up demand for additional retail space.”
Last month, Fresh Market announced plans for its first Tarrant County grocery store, saying it has signed a lease for a location at Southlake Boulevard and South Carroll Avenue in Southlake.
Fresh Market said it expected to open that store this fall. It will be the chain’s third in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, following previously announced new locations at the Turtle Creek Village and Arboretum Village centers in Dallas, both of which are set to open this year or next.
-Robert Francis | rfrancis@bizpress.net