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When I knocked on the door at 5300 Pershing Avenue on Fort Worth’s Westside, I knew it probably had some history. What I didn’t know was that I was knocking on the door of a building built in 1896 called Arlington Heights Public School. At the time, public education was just beginning to gain a foothold in Fort Worth. And this house was an important element in that history.
I didn’t come to find out about Fort Worth’s buildings or the history of public education. I was there to talk about tequila, real estate and the distillery business with the owners of La Pulga, a business he founded in 2020 to do just that.
The owners, a trio of Fort Worth entrepreneurs, had plans to simultaneously launch Tequila, revamp the longtime market at University Drive and Jacksboro Highway, and launch a new locally produced spirit, Sotol. In other words, we are creating history by using historic buildings themselves.
This was clearly a story that intrigued readers. This story combined several themes that have long been of interest to readers. Eating, drinking, and the important question: “What’s happening to my favorite place in Fort Worth?”
The eating part was related to Sarah Castillo, one of the co-founders of La Pulga. She is the founder and managing partner of Octopus, She Heads, Side Saddle She Saloon, and Tiny’s. Readers, myself included, want to know what she does. Probably because she wants to eat, drink, and hang out anywhere that has her name on it. Other co-founders are former bar owner Andrew de la Torre and real estate developer and entrepreneur Stephen Slaughter.
Together, they created a company that already offers the tequila brand La Pulga, and will renovate the historic Pequeño Mexican Flea Market (also La Pulga) at 960 University Drive. I’m making plans. According to De La Torre, this flea market is the oldest outdoor flea market in the country. It’s part of the real estate part of this story, part of the question of “What’s happening to my favorite place in Fort Worth?” part.
Plans for the flea market include adding a distillery for sotol, another spirit product similar to tequila.
The group also plans to build a hotel on the site. But perhaps most importantly for them and the region, they continue to maintain an open-air market. Expect more announcements on La Pulga’s site in the new year, they told me when I checked in recently.
While working on these plans, the company’s tequila brand continues to grow in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The company plans to expand distribution throughout Texas in 2024. The company Blanco His Tequila was rated by Wine Enthusiast as one of the top 100 spirits of 2023, and in the individual rating he received 93 points.
In early 2023, La Pulga hired Ale Ochoa, a former whiskey scientist at Firestone & Robertson Distilling Company, as head of spirits.
La Pulga’s plans dovetail with other developments taking shape in the area near the Panther Island project and around the former Fort Worth Independent School District administration building at White Settlement Road and University Drive. ing.
Speaking of Fort Worth ISD, that building at 5300 Pershing Avenue was most recently home to League Real Estate before being leased as offices.
However, dating back to 1896, the school was an early public school for Westsiders until 1909. All grades were located in this building. The school he moved to nearby 5100 El Campo Avenue in 1909. The first school tax election was held in 1877, and public education was in its infancy here.
And now, this house may once again make history.
Bob Francis is the Fort Worth Report’s business editor. Please contact bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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