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AC Hotel, a brand popular in Europe, gets key incentive to build in downtown Fort Worth

Project Location

Construction on the $68.5 million, 16-story AC Hotel on Main Street in downtown Fort Worth will begin mid-2018, the developer said Wednesday after a special taxing district approved a $4.1 million incentive for the project.

For a moment during the Downtown Tax Increment Finance District board meeting, though, it appeared the project might be derailed for lack of support.

At issue was whether public dollars could be used to pay for a transformer that Oncor electric utility requires for the building. In downtown, Oncor requires an electrical vault for the transformer and two back-up transformers in the case of outages.

Of the developer’s $4.1 million request, $3.1 million would be reimbursement for the electrical vault, which is typically built under the sidewalk. The developer will receive the money over 22 months.

The money will come from property taxes generated within a designated area downtown. The money is reinvested in development instead of going into the city’s general fund.

The land has been used as a 32-space parking lot for the past 20 years. It will take two years to build, according to the developer, Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw.

The building will include space for shops and restaurants, meeting rooms and a rooftop patio. The project was approved by the Downtown Design Review Board in November.