FORT WORTH, Texas — Two months after Keller ISD parents implored city and school officials to prevent the construction of a hotel near Basswood Elementary School in Fort Worth, the property’s developer announced they are stopping construction.
The outrage began when parents discovered a Studio 6 Extended Stay Hotel was already under construction adjacent to the school. Studio 6 Spokesperson announced construction is stopping the same day Keller ISD trustees were expected to vote on either purchasing the property or acquiring it through eminent domain.
Negotiations between Keller ISD and the Studio 6 hotel to purchase the property and prevent construction have been ongoing, Bryce Nieman, Keller ISD’s chief communications officer said in a statement.
The school board is still expected to take action this evening on either purchasing the property or exercising eminent domain if the parties can’t negotiate agreeable terms.
The developer of the Studio 6 hotel will seek a new location, according to a Studio 6 spokesperson.
“As for any plans that the developer has announced, I cannot speak to those,” Nieman said.
At a February town hall meeting, parents demanded Keller ISD and the city of Fort Worth halt construction on the property, expressing concerns that the development would make the school campus unsafe.
“We don’t want to move forward. We want this to stop,” one parent told officials in February.
At the meeting, Keller ISD superintendent Tracy Johnson alleged the city did not provide proper notice before approving the motel. One of the notices came in the form of a postcard, she added.
“It makes me think there was not a good effort put toward anybody, but more to get something built that you wanted built,” Johnson said at the February meeting.
Council member Charlie Lauersdorf, who represented the city at the town hall meeting, said the city must improve its notification process.
The Keller ISD Board of Trustees meeting will begin at 5 p.m. Residents can sign up to comment at the meeting here.
