From taking a star turn in Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman” to riding the data center bandwagon to expanding colleges and hospitals, Cowtown saw a growth spurt last year that befitted a city of 1 million residents.
Our business team had their boots and heels on the ground in 2025 covering the major projects shaping the city’s future.
Here are the top business news stories of the past year along with a little crystal-ball gazing on what’s next for 2026 and beyond.
Strongest year in a decade
Fort Worth had a banner fiscal year in economic development in 2025 with $6.7 billion in new capital investment and more than 6,900 in new and retained jobs, the city’s strongest year in more than a decade.
Those economic projects include a mix of the old — a new Bell plant that’ll add 520 full-time jobs — and the new — the Taiwan-based Wistron manufacturer will spend $761 million on AI supercomputer plants that will create more than 800 jobs.
Others noticed the city’s new economic development prowess as well.
The Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, at only 2 years old, was earlier chosen by Site Selection Magazine as the recipient of the 2025 Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development, considered the most prestigious award given to such groups.
That’s quite a change from 2017, when a report dinged the city for its unfocused efforts at attracting new businesses and expanding legacy companies.
And 2026 is teed up for more business growth.
A recent city report noted Fort Worth has 98 projects in the development pipeline, with 44 of those company expansions and 54 focused on companies new to the area.
Bedrock Fort Worth companies such as Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. are proving to remain relevant into the future as well. The company recently unveiled its first F-35A fighter jet for Finland and was on track to delivering a total of nearly 200 combined to its customers, providing about $20 billion in local impact. More than 300 will be needed by the United States over the next decade.
Mixed-use projects taking shape in the new year include the eight-story Van Zandt project at the northwest corner of West 7th and Foch streets and the nearby $1.7 billion Westside Village off University Drive.
And, of course, there was “Landman,” the Paramount+ series that brought eyeballs to Fort Worth with filming at businesses across the city. But it’s more than just window dressing, as Sheridan’s studios built two large studio complexes at Hillwood’s AllianceTexas with plans for more.
Expanding health access
JPS Health Network completed several phases of its multibillion expansion plan. The county hospital opened a Las Vegas Trail health center alongside Cook Children’s Health Care System in July and a psychiatric emergency facility in September.
As we go into the new year, don’t expect a pause in expansion.
The next phase of JPS’s master plan — a new parking garage — will be unveiled in the spring. Further details of future phases will likely become public early next year, with plans for a new $1 billion hospital building filed with the state in November.
Meanwhile, Medical City Healthcare completed an expansion at its Arlington hospital, constructed a mental health center in north Fort Worth and revamped their Fort Worth hospital.
Cook Children’s announced plans to move its pediatric office in Arlington to a new location. The hospital is set to break ground on a new parking garage that will serve its new West Tower.
UT Southwestern broke ground on a cancer center in Near Southside. Texas Health Resources announced plans for a new patient tower in its southwest Fort Worth campus.
College growth
Local colleges and universities built themselves up last year, literally and figuratively.
The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University and Tarleton State University Fort Worth each enrolled their largest-ever freshman classes.
UTA broke ground on its new UTA West campus along the western edge of Fort Worth in April, making progress toward the expected fall 2028 open date. University officials expect system regent approval for drawings of the campus’s first building in February and to begin construction in March.
Texas A&M Fort Worth continued progress on its downtown campus Law & Education Building, which is expected to open next year. The university is planning for five buildings that will serve as an “innovation district,” hosting academic programs and public-private collaborations in areas such as engineering and health.
UNT Health Fort Worth launched a master’s in clinical nutrition to train professionals for a field growing in recognition. The program’s first class will begin in fall 2026.
Tarrant County College increased enrollment for the fourth consecutive year. The school collaborated with Autobahn for a new internship and scholarship program that serves as a pipeline for technicians.
Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, along with the UT Southwestern Medical Center, took the lead on the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator launched in November that forms collaborations between organizations in Fort Worth and Dallas.
Data centers’ growing footprint
Texas is a national leader in new data centers, which often require significant water sources for cooling and enough energy to supply power to a midsized city.
A 2024 state report noted Texas was home to about 300 data centers with 141 of them located in North Texas.
Now Fort Worth is contributing to the state’s growing data center and technology industry with new facilities, such as AllianceTexas’ $2 billion Meta facility that draws energy from wind.
More recently, Black Mountain Power gained a green light for a data center in south Fort Worth after city leaders approved zoning changes on 430 acres. In 2026, developers expect to ask for more land to be rezoned in the area, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Trains, buses and bikes
Fort Worth-area transit ridership grew to about 8 million trips in 2025 — Trinity Metro’s highest numbers since 2017.
TEXRail, a passenger rail line from downtown to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, saw big ridership gains — reaching more than 877,000 trips in 2025, nearly 100,000 more trips than the previous year, data shows. That line now connects with the new Silver Line route operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit that started on Oct. 25.
Trinity Metro launched its free downtown Blue Line that’s seeing ridership exceed that of the old Molly the Trolley route, officials said.
The Western-themed Orange Line, which takes riders from downtown to the Fort Worth Stockyards and Northside, also saw big gains. The route, which launched in 2024, consistently drew between 3,500 to over 4,000 riders each month, officials said.
Trinity Metro’s revamped bike share program started in 2025 as part of a $2.3 million partnership with Lyft Urban Solutions. The 400-bike fleet, which includes 340 electric models, saw ridership gains in the latter part of the year with more than 2,700 riders in September — more than double the amount of riders recorded during the same period in 2024, data shows.
Getting in line for H Mart
What will be one the region’s most followed stories of 2026?
We already know the openings of H Mart — the popular Asian-themed grocery store — and a lineup of restaurants, stores and salons at North Beach Street and Loop 820 in Haltom City will be one of them.
Haltom City is projecting a spring opening for H Mart. McDonald’s beat everyone to the punch with its October opening, becoming the first operating tenant. Some are pushing ahead and may open ahead of H Mart. Most, however, are expected to open around the same time as the grocery store.
The shopping center, which will house more than 40 tenants, is 100% leased, city officials said in the fall.
The center’s restaurants will serve Korean barbecue, sushi, Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican and American food. A spot for Japanese cheesecake is also expected.
H Mart helped spawn more development around it. A number of tracts in and around the 820-North Beach-Haltom Road corridor are under construction.
“This whole corridor is going to be a place where people come to live, come to visit, come to work,” Rex Phelps, Haltom City city manager, said in the fall. “All cities want regional-type draws that bring people to your city.”
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
Scott Nishimura is a senior editor at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
Nicole Lopez is the environment reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at nicole.lopez@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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Great Job Ismael M. Belkoura, Bob Francis, Eric E. Garcia, Nicole Lopez, Scott Nishimura and McKinnon Rice & the Team @ Fort Worth Report for sharing this story.
