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Cook Children’s campus expansion approved with street vacations; council records recusal by one member
Summary
The Fort Worth City Council approved street vacations and related approvals to allow a large Cook Children’s campus expansion, after applicant representatives described a roughly 760,000-square-foot medical tower and preservation of public-access easements.
The Fort Worth City Council on May 13, 2025 approved vacations and related approvals to allow a major expansion of the Cook Children’s campus, a project applicant representatives said will include a multi-story medical tower and expanded critical care capacity.
Justin Wells, a representative of Dunaway Associates speaking for Cook Children’s, told the council the project includes requests to vacate portions of Terrell Avenue and Cooper Avenue but that the city would retain public-access easements to preserve corridor access for neighboring health facilities such as Texas Health. Wells said the expansion will accommodate a large medical tower of about 760,000 square feet and several critical care units intended to serve a growing community need.
A council member recused during the vote on M&C 25-0399, citing employment with Cook Children’s; the motion subsequently carried. Mike Brennan, who identified himself as a supporter, addressed the council in favor of the item during the nonconsent speakers portion.
What was in the council action: The council approved the street vacations and associated municipal consent actions tied to M&C 25-0399. The approvals as described in the meeting record allow the city manager and relevant departments to record the necessary documents, while retaining public-access easements to preserve cross-campus connections and access for adjacent medical users.
Nut graf: Approving these vacations and easements clears key land-use and access steps that the Cook Children’s expansion team said are necessary to construct the tower and associated facilities; the easement language is intended to maintain access for other medical campuses and emergency corridors.
Supporting details: Justin Wells said the right-of-way vacations are intended to give Cook Children’s flexibility for design while ensuring access remains through public-access easements; he noted that Terrell Avenue serves as an important corridor for both Cook Children’s and Texas Health and that the easement arrangement preserves that access. A groundbreaking for the project occurred earlier the same day, Wells said.
Public comment and procedure: The council did not record a roll-call vote with named tallies on the excerpted transcript; the meeting shows the motion was moved and seconded and recorded as carried. A recusal was recorded for this agenda item; the transcript identifies the recusal but does not provide the speaker’s full name within the excerpt. Staff will finalize the vacation instruments and public-access easement language in follow-up implementation steps.
What happens next: Staff were directed to finalize instruments and return the executed documents or related reports as required by departmental procedures; implementation steps will include recording the vacation instrument and easement and completing site-plan and permitting requirements before construction can proceed.
Quotes (verbatim from meeting): "...it will retain as a public access easement. That helps ensure that Texas Health also will continue to have access from Eighth Avenue to their main campus," said Justin Wells, representing Cook Children's. Wells described the project as "a very large medical tower, roughly the size of 760,000 square feet."
