A north Fort Worth rock quarry once slated for condos, hotels, a beach, a splash park and a Ferris wheel is instead becoming an apartment community with a slice of city parkland carved out around it. The Fort Worth City Council is set to accept the dedication of roughly 12 acres of that site, known as Quarry Falls, on Sept. 29.
The site sits near 4800 Decatur Road, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the city says the former rock quarry will become a nature park. That 12-acre parcel is a fraction of the sprawling 80-acre site originally envisioned between Meacham Airport and Saginaw, where developers once pitched an ambitious live-entertainment destination.
What the Quarry Was Supposed to Become
Back in 2018, the plan for the site was massive: condominiums, apartments, two hotels totaling 300 rooms, a conference center, a 3,500-capacity music venue, a lake, a beach and a splash park, according to hotel-online.com. Construction costs were projected to run as high as $280 million. The plan also included a Ferris wheel — though accounts differ on its size, with the Star-Telegram citing a 100-foot wheel and hotel-online.com describing a wheel up to 135 feet tall.
The Fort Worth City Council approved the project on March 6 after the developer and partner companies sought zoning changes, per the same hotel-online.com account. Plans at the time also called for widening a two-lane stretch of Old Decatur Road to four lanes and adding a traffic signal.
The Man Behind the Original Vision
Ed Casebier, a developer with Renaissance Development, told the Star-Telegram in 2018 about his plans to repurpose the abandoned quarry. Casebier had a history with the property through his late business partner, Tom Blanton, who died in 2014. The two had previously worked together restoring the T&P building in downtown Fort Worth, the outlet reports.
The quarry itself has a long industrial history — the land was mined from the 1920s until the 1970s, leaving behind the lake formed by decades of limestone harvesting, according to hotel-online.com.
Greystar Takes Over With a Different Plan
Fast forward to 2024, and Greystar purchased the Quarry Falls property, according to the Star-Telegram. Rather than building out the beach-and-Ferris-wheel vision, the company has moved forward with an apartment community, now listed by Greystar as Birchway Quarry Falls at 4710 Old Decatur Road.
Alongside the housing, Greystar has invested $1.13 million in improvements at Quarry Falls, the Star-Telegram reports. That work so far includes a quarter-mile walking trail, two benches and a trash can. The company plans to add another 1,300 linear feet of trails and a 40-car parking lot, rounding out the public-facing side of the property.
The City's Role Ahead of the Dedication
The roughly 12-acre Quarry Falls dedication amounts to a donation of the land to the city, per the Star-Telegram's reporting. Once the council accepts it next week, the parcel is expected to formally become city-owned parkland, though the outlet's reporting stops short of detailing a full site plan or public-access rules for the space going forward.
The shift from a $280 million entertainment complex to apartments and a walking trail marks a striking pivot for a property that once generated headlines for its splashy ambitions. What began as a developer's vision for beaches and thrill rides has settled into a quieter combination of rental housing and green space — a pattern seen in other former quarries around the country, including Atlanta's Westside Park, a former quarry site redeveloped as a reservoir and park, according to bizjournals.com.
