🔥Downtown FW real estate is on fire; Cook Children's growing taller; Upgrades at Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor.

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson headline a sanctioned boxing card at AT&T Stadium in Arlington tonight. If you are one of Netflix' 280 million subscribers, it is part of your package. No doubt it will eclipse the most-watched fight in history -- the 2015 bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, which had 4.6 million pay-per-view buyers. The fight purse for Paul vs. Tyson is about $80 million. A ringside apron suite of 10 seats reportedly was sold for $2 million. Arlington and Texas agreed to pay nearly $1.8 million to host the event. (Image: Netflix)

A planned $2 billion, mixed-use development about five miles south of D-FW International Airport is moving forward after approval from the Fort Worth City Council. The project, called River Central, could have a 140-room hotel, 120,000 square feet of offices, a 56,000-square-foot concert venue, 60,000 square feet of retail, 125 townhomes 1,200 apartments, and about 50 acres of open space. The Dallas Business Journal has the story.

Cook Children's 10-year master plan includes a 700,000-square-foot medical tower, which is described as a seamless extension of the existing medical center. Connected above and below ground, it makes way for an expansion of the NICU with an additional 37 beds.

Dart Interests, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm, has purchased four parcels totaling 4.6 acres on the west side of downtown Fort Worth for development. The company bought the former downtown library in 2023. A purchase price was not disclosed. The firm’s founder is Kenneth Dart, a billionaire businessman whose family founded Dart Container, the maker of Solo cups.

Fort Worth listed an expanded city block of downtown for sale via JLL. The properties include the former Lone Star Gas Building at 908 Monroe St., the building next door at 900 Monroe St., a 338-space parking garage at 319 W. 10th St. and nearby parking lots.

Fort Worth-based TPG, through its TPG NEXT, has taken a minority interest in Demopolis Equity Partners. TPG Next is focused on seeding and scaling the next generation of investment firms.

The Vanguard Group increased its position in Grapevine-based GameStop Corp., and the asset-management giant’s stake surpasses that of GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen’s RC Ventures. Vanguard, the top institutional investor, has 37,108,031 shares, or an 8.7% stake. RC Ventures has 36,847,842 shares.

Fidelity Investments has increased its investment in Fort Worth-based Range Resources to 11.35%.

Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington is shutting down two rides to make way for a record-breaking dive coaster that will open in 2026. Also announced is another large attraction being built at its sister waterpark, Hurricane Harbor.

It’s the Harvard of University Drive: TCU is increasing tuition for the 2025-26 academic year by 3% to $61,650.  

On the other hand: Governor Greg Abbott declared… "Let me be clear: I will not support any tuition increase at any public higher education institution in the upcoming biennium."

Willow Park, the second largest city in Parker County, is about to get a lot bigger. The city council approved annexation of 317 acres owned by Dean-Beall Ranch, Ltd. The land is located on the southwest corner of Interstate 20 and Highway 1187, running all the way to Bankhead Highway.

Arlington entrepreneur Naresh K. Vashisht (’72) has made a historic donation for the Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine. It is the largest endowed gift given to the college.

Condé Nast Traveler selects the top 15 hotels in Texas. Tarrant County has three on the list, including No. 1.

A top attraction in Fort Worth -- The Herd in the Stockyards -- is getting a $400k upgrade in accommodations.

The Professional Bull Riders announced it cut ties with Dr. Phil's Merit Media as the companies dispute rights fees in a contract. Merit says the parties still are talking. 

The incoming Trump administration putting a 20% tariff on all products imported into the country could end up being a driver of more manufacturing in Dallas-Fort Worth, supercharging a trend of foreign companies looking for plant space in the Metroplex, says Bisnow.

Congratulations Kamel Ponjabi, of Southlake, winner of our drawing for a pair of premium tickets to the Fort Worth Opera performance of Little Women, Nov 22 & 24 at Scott Theatre. Purchase tickets here. (Sponsored)

Significant stat: Around 3.8 million Texans owe $128.7 billion in student loans combined, or an average of $33,745 per borrower. The national average per borrower is about $36,200.

Snippets:

• The John Wayne museum in the Fort Worth Stockyards completes its expansion project.

• Ford Motor Co. was too slow on recalls. It is being fined up to $165 million.

• Wyoming is the No. 1 tax-friendly state, according to the Tax Foundation. See where Texas ranks.

• American Airlines expects nearly 8.3 million customers filling more than 77,000 flights during the Thanksgiving weekend. 

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office has collected more than $3 billion in pharmaceutical lawsuits. The latest is $83 million from Kroger related to opioids. 

Announcements:

• CDM Smith: Hires Texas A&M School of Law grad Christopher J. Karpathy as Senior Vice President and incoming Chief Legal Counsel.

• Texas A&M System Board: Honors Tarleton State professor Alex del Carmen as a Regents Professor.

• Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management: Opens in Fort Worth with Executive Directors Joseph Monty and Jeremiah MacNamara.

• Texas Business Hall of Fame: Inducts Producer Taylor Sheridan, former San Antonio Spur David Robinson and four others. 

• Fort Worth Public Relations Society: Awards Best of Show to S&G Group (Sandra Brodnicki and Gigi Westerman) for its work with Girls Inc. of Tarrant County in the Crisis Communications/Issues Management category.

• UNT Health Science Center-Fort Worth: Brian Gladue, EVP for Research and Innovation, to retire. 

• Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers: Names Todd Brooker of Cawley, Gillespie & Associates to its Board. 

 🦃817 Biz is formatted for viewing on mobile devices. If this email doesn’t look right, click the link at top right. Some links may expire after initial posting or be paywall protected.