The Hatchery is a 17-acre master-planned mixed-use development.
The vision of Momark Development, Southwest Strategies Group, and Diana McIver & Associates, the renovation of the original 1972 tower — which will soon be rebranded as the Rebekah, after the center’s namesake Rebekah Baines Johnson — along with the considerable expansion of new buildings surrounding it is a lot to take in, even from the air. The master plan for the center’s redevelopment dates back all the way to 2010, so as you can imagine we’re extremely excited to see this beautiful and under-appreciated site reach its full potential.
Split into three phases of construction, in addition to its 500 senior residences the master-planned development will eventually host more than 250 market-rate residential units, 176,000 square feet of Class A office space, 16,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a community garden and “food forest” just west of the original RBJ tower, and “Hatchery Park,” a public plaza located near the corner of Haskell and Waller Streets. Here’s a map of everything headed to the site, including a new headquarters for classical radio station KMFA 89.5:
By the way, that hatchery name references the site’s history as a federal fish hatchery between the 1940s and late 1960s, when stock ponds drawing water from the nearby Colorado River raised bass and catfish — which, once well-fed, were then used to populate lakes around Texas for the benefit of local anglers.
The major market-rate residential component of the project is known as the Weaver, for President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Secretary of Urban Development Robert Weaver. Its 251 apartments, located in the complex at 1401 Art Dilly Drive, are now leasing, with the building scheduled to open later this month — the first real milestone of completion for the Hatchery, which is expected to be fully built out by 2022.