03/16/2016 | by Sarah Borchersen-Keto

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE: SKT) announced March 16 that it plans to build a new Tanger Outlet Center serving Fort Worth, Texas, and the surrounding metro areas.

The site will be located adjacent to the Texas Motor Speedway. The company estimates the project will create more than 400 full and part-time jobs during the construction phase and more than 900 full and part-time jobs once the new outlet center opens.

Steven Tanger, president and CEO of the company, said it intends to start construction on the project once it has leased at least 60 percent of the space, a target he hopes to reach within the next two months.

“We’re close, but not quite there yet,” Tanger said with regard to the firm’s efforts to hit the 60 percent target. Once construction starts, Tanger estimates it will take a year to complete the new center. To date, Tanger Outlets has signed leases for the new outlet center with retailers including Nike, Levi’s, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Express, Skechers, Carter’s and Oshkosh.

“Given the quality of the tenants we have signed and that have committed to our project, and the overall strength of the market in Fort Worth, we expect Tanger Outlets in Fort Worth will be a highly successful and popular destination,” Tanger added. Tanger said the company has been eager to enter the Fort Worth area for a number of years because of the “void that exists in that market.”

The new center is expected to contain approximately 350,000 square feet of retail space and will form part of Fine Line Diversified Development’s Champions Circle, a 279-acre commercial mixed-use development.

Delivery of Tanger Outlets in Fort Worth is slated for early 2017. Tanger Factory Outlets has two additional centers scheduled to open this year: One center is located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the other, a joint venture with Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), is in Columbus, Ohio.