Coworking News

Choctaw Stadium in Arlington to add coworking space with ballpark views

Gee, how can you concentrate on your work with views like this.

Courtesy rendering

There's a surprising new enterprise coming to the Arlington Entertainment District: a coworking space.

According to a release, Spark Coworking will open an office space at the southeast corner of Choctaw Stadium, with a debut forecast for late 2022.

Spark Arlington joins other forthcoming openings Loews Arlington Hotel & Convention Center, National Medal of Honor Museum, and One Rangers Way, a residential building breaking ground in fall 2022.

Texas Rangers Managing partner and majority owner Ray Davis says Spark Arlington will add an important component to the Arlington Entertainment District: collaborative business enterprise.

"The addition of Spark Arlington also continues our pledge to make Choctaw Stadium a vital and fully productive facility in the District," Davis says. "I am pleased to join with our partners from the City of Arlington and The Cordish Companies in making this announcement today."

The coworking space will support Arlington's growing entrepreneurial community, and give members proximity to the Entertainment District including Globe Life Field, AT&T Stadium, Texas Live!, and Live! by Loews; and the forthcoming Loews Arlington Hotel & Convention Center, National Medal of Honor Museum and One Rangers Way residences.

Spark Coworking debuted in Baltimore in 2016, and Spark has since opened locations in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri. Arlington will be the fourth. It's part of Cordish Companies, the developer involved in commercial real estate, entertainment districts, sports-anchored developments, gaming, hotels — and now coworking spaces.

"The Cordish Companies is incredibly proud to continue our partnership with the Texas Rangers and City of Arlington to bring Spark Coworking to Arlington," says Cordish Companies COO Zed Smith. "We are constantly seeking innovative ways to utilize and maximize new and existing amenities in our development projects in the Entertainment District, and the addition of Spark to Choctaw Stadium is the latest example of these efforts."

Spark Arlington will comprise a 30,000-square-foot, two-level space with dedicated and nondedicated workstations, 61 private offices, 17 suites, and hospitality-focused amenities. It's surely the only workspace that'll come with a view of Globe Life Field.

There's a very long list of amenities that include:

24/7 secured swipe card access and building concierge security
Workspace and balconies with views of Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium's repurposed infield
Garage parking
Furnished private workspaces and suites
Access to community kitchen, member café, and lounge spaces
On-site meeting rooms
High-speed internet
Mailbox address and concierge mail services
Unlimited access to print, scan, copy center and Shred-It boxes
Nitro Cold Brew Coffee and tea bar
Onsite podcast studio
Mother's room and wellness space
Indoor bike storage
Exclusive member events

"Our vision for Spark Coworking is to provide the local business and entrepreneurial community with an affordable, appealing and flexible way to locate and grow and manage their businesses," said Spark director of community & partnerships Shervonne Cherry. "We are excited to open Spark Arlington in such a unique and exciting venue as Choctaw Stadium, and we are eager welcome new members into this space later this year."

Choctaw Stadium is the former Globe Life Park in Arlington, which was home to the Texas Rangers, from 1994 when it was built, to 2019. It hosted the 2010 and 2011 World Series, the 1995 MLB All-Star Game, and concerts such as Billy Joel and Paul McCartney.

It was reconfigured in 2019 into a multi-purpose venue and has since hosted college and Texas high school football games plus entertainment events. Spark Arlington is the third entity to locate in the repurposed 200,000 square feet of commercial and retail space within Choctaw Stadium. In late 2020, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation relocated its world headquarters there, and the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau is also based in the stadium.

openings sports

University News

Univ of Texas at Arlington gets OK to proceed on west Fort Worth campus

Courtesy rendering

UTA West campus coming soon

A new university campus is in the works for west Fort Worth. According to a release, a proposal by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) to purchase 51 acres of property in west Fort Worth got the thumbs up from the University of Texas System Board of Regents, paving the way for UTA West, a new campus that would be built in the Walsh Ranch development.

Advantageously positioned at the intersection of I-30 and I-20 at the western gateway of Fort Worth, the new campus could begin welcoming students as early as fall 2028.

UTA West will be developed as part of a multiyear plan to serve more than 10,000 students.

“Anytime the UT System can expand greater educational opportunity, access, and affordability to Texans, we’re going to do it,” says UT System Board of Regents chairman Kevin Eltife in a satement. “We’ve recently done it in east Texas and south Texas and now we’re heading west. We’re looking forward to planting a UT Arlington flag in west Fort Worth, currently the nation’s fastest growing city.”

"The western part of the metroplex has an ever-growing population, a plethora of student talent, and a wide breadth of opportunity for explosive economic advancement. UTA has long been a top supplier of talent to companies across Fort Worth, and this expansion will allow UTA to broaden its impact across our region,” said UTA President Jennifer Cowley.

Walsh Ranch is the 7,200-acre development in west Fort Worth that calls itself "Fort Worth's next great neighborhood," being developed with neighborhoods, town centers, mixed-use areas, and commercial space.

And now a university campus.

UTA in Fort Worth
The new campus would be only the latest in a decades-long partnership between UTA and the city of Fort Worth. That includes the UTA Research Institute (UTARI), a facility established in east Fort Worth in 1986; and the UTA Fort Worth Center, a continuing education center for the downtown Fort Worth community established in 2007.

In 2023, the UTA Institute of Urban Studies, the principal research center for the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs, opened at UTA’s Fort Worth Center with a mission is to conduct research and provide technical assistance to city and county governments, governmental agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and to offer education and teaching opportunities to individuals either already in or contemplating public service careers.

The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution with an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, and is the second-largest institution in the UT System. In 2021, its combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributed to its reaffirmation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and in 2022 earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success.