Farrington Field records show a soccer group's agreement predated FWISD's bid process, as two council members press for public input

Months before Fort Worth ISD asked developers for proposals on the land around Farrington Field, district, city and soccer group representatives signed a preliminary agreement sketching out the stadium's future, according to records the Fort Worth Report obtained.

The September 2025 memorandum of understanding was signed by then-Superintendent Karen Molinar, Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern and Nathan Hanks, chief executive of Jonah Football Holdings, the Report said in a story published Tuesday. The district's first call for proposals went out four months later, in January.

What the 2025 agreement laid out

As described by the Report, the memorandum outlined about $65 million in improvements to the stadium, with roughly $55 million to be reimbursed through a tax increment financing zone, and anticipated about $330 million in private development nearby.

Jonah would have been allowed to stage professional soccer at the stadium, which the district owns, for 20 years, with the option of two more 10-year terms, and FWISD would have committed no less than 35% of the maintenance-and-operations taxes it collects inside the zone toward the financing. The district would have kept ownership of the stadium.

The document was explicitly nonbinding, and it left the district free not to choose Jonah in a later competitive process. City spokesperson Sana Syed told the Report the memorandum no longer applies because the district has since run its own competitive process, and that the city has not committed any money.

Any city role in financing would come after the district finishes, she said, and a tax increment district would need approval from its own board.

Separate documents described by the Report show outreach to prospective investors in a proposed Fort Worth FC with men's and women's teams. Amanda Bush, president of Pine Cove Strategies, told the Report that contacting investors is a standard step and that no financial commitments are being sought at this stage.

Council members want more process

Two council members whose districts border the stadium area, Elizabeth Beck and Macy Hill, wrote to Superintendent Peter Licata on Oct. 26 asking the district to follow its new real estate policy, commission independent economic analyses and bring in neighbors before any decision. "A transaction of this scale warrants a rigorous, transparent process," they wrote, according to the Report.

They also asked for a joint stakeholder advisory committee.

Board President Pete Geren said Tuesday that the policy, adopted Aug. 11, builds in safeguards for the district's finances and chances for residents to weigh in.

For deals involving property worth $5 million or more, or sites of historic or neighborhood importance, it requires an independent appraisal, at least one neighborhood meeting, a 30-day written comment period, notice to nearby owners and a review of the financial effects, including any tax increment financing, before trustees vote.

The West 7th Street Neighborhood Alliance's president, Jill Freer, told the Report her group has had no direct outreach from the district or the city.

Leaders of Historic Fort Worth told the Report they are not opposed to soccer at the stadium but want residents involved first, noting that Farrington Field and the nearby Billingsley Field House are listed on the National Register but lack local historic designation.

Up to seven district parcels around the stadium could be developed under the proposals sought in May; the stadium itself stays with the district. District spokesperson Evan Anderson said Farrington is not expected to come up at the board of managers' Nov. 4 or Nov. 10 meetings and that the district will give an update later.

Sources

fortworthreport.org