North Texas Daily

Scott Brown Commercial and Pivot Technologies recently unveiled a nearly $100 million redevelopment of downtown Denton which includes a proposed hotel, convention center, parking garage and entertainment venue. 

If approved, the changes would transform the area surrounding the Wells Fargo building by 2025. Scott Tarwater of Pivot Technologies is working on the project and said it would create jobs for college students, as well as provide places for local bands and artists to perform. 

“We’re going to take the Wells Fargo building and the four-square block area around it and convert it into a 186 room upscale boutique hotel one mile equidistant from UNT and TWU,” Tarwater said. “There will be an entertainment venue on top of the parking facility for concerts and other activities like the One O’Clock Lab Band at UNT or other artists.”

Additionally, the hotel will house a speakeasy lounge in the basement, a food hall with eight to 10 different food offerings and a 20,000 square foot convention center, Tarwater said. A video animation created by the design company McAdams models the future plans using drone footage of the square. The video features a green space that would connect portions of the development. 

The project has been marketed as being environmentally friendly and will execute this through implementing environmental standards in the hotel, Tarwater said. 

“It will be the safest, greenest, cleanest mixed-use in Texas,” Tarwater said. “A big portion of the funding for this project comes from a component called base equity, which means all of your operating units within the hotel have to meet the highest environmental standards and carbon footprint standards in the world.”

Community feedback on the project has not been all positive, however.

Denton resident and former university student Brooke Hoese said they do not see the need for the proposed developments and think it would have an overall negative impact on the city.

“I think that Denton is unique to North Texas, especially north [Dallas-Fort Worth] suburbs and cities, in that it still has a small town, local feel,” Hoese said. “Building such a large hotel and event center in the square, which is mostly historical buildings, would be completely antithetical to that.”

The doors of the Wells Fargo building reflect the Denton Courthouse on April 26, 2022. John Anderson

Additionally, Scott Brown Properties has received several complaints in the past from tenants who reported mold, bugs, foundation issues and bad customer service. With Scott Brown Commercial being the leader in the redevelopment, it has raised concerns for some Denton locals, including Ivy Street.

Street has lived in the city for over 25 years and said she has developed a negative opinion of Brown over the past few years. 

“I don’t know Scott Brown personally, but I’ve never met anyone with good things to say about him or his business,” Street said. “I’ve gone out of my way to avoid renting any of his properties due to his reputation.”

Before starting construction, the developers will have to meet with the City of Denton Development Department and the Planning and Zoning Department. They will then propose a “go or no-go” to the city council, Tarwater said. 

“At the appropriate time later this summer or fall, we intend to get in front of the city mayor, city council members and city manager to get final approval on all of the necessary components that will give us the opportunity to finalize our Denton equity funding and be able to get our architectural drawings and start construction,” Tarwater said. 

Featured Image: The Wells Fargo building stands at the edge of the Denton Square on April 26, 2022. Photo by John Anderson