Design and Construction Report staff writer
Texas A&M-Fort Worth has opened its new Law and Education Building in downtown Fort Worth, marking the completion of the campus’s first phase. Simultaneous with the opening, the university system broke ground on the next phase of its downtown expansion: the Research and Innovation Building-A.
The building is being constructed by a joint venture of Manhattan Construction Company, CARCON Industries and Construction and Manhattan Construction Company|CARCON Industries & Construction Joint Venture.
Texas Contractor reported in 2023 that the development team for the Texas A&M-Fort Worth campus will include architecture firms SmithGroup and Bennett Partners for design, Clarke Construction and Byrne Construction Services in Fort Worth, JLL for commercial leasing, and ACARI Management Group in Arlington for community engagement.
When the University’s Board of Reagents gave the go-ahead for the project in 2024, the university reported that “the building could cost up to $260 million, including 150,000 gross-sq. ft. of offices and lab space for the Texas A&M System at an estimated cost of $150 million. The remainder would be for private sector partners as well as parking that could be used by campus tenants and the public.”
The completed eight-story, 228,000-sq. ft. academic building will house a variety of programs, including law, engineering, business, healthcare, biotechnology, and medical laboratory sciences. The facility is designed to connect students with industry partners, government agencies, and researchers.
The newly commenced Research and Innovation Building-A is slated for completion in 2029. The 11-story structure will support the growth of North Texas’s Switchyard Innovation District by expanding collaboration in fields such as aerospace, health sciences, medicine, and transportation.
