Bearcat Turf
The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf

Dallas, TX · April 2026

The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf

Bearcat Turf installed 5,600 SF of commercial-grade artificial turf at The Art Docks — M2G Ventures' new outdoor mural gallery in Dallas's Inwood Design District. Drainage-first build for developers, GCs, and architects.

commercial mixed use developer project general contractor architect landscape architect public art design district dallas mural gallery putting green hospitality
The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf feature 1 The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf feature 2 The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf feature 3

The Art Docks is the centerpiece of M2G Ventures’ reimagining of the Inwood Design District — the 40-acre, 14-building mixed-use campus they acquired in 2025 between Dallas Love Field and the Design District proper. The Art Docks itself transforms a long industrial alleyway into a curated, lit, sound-tracked outdoor mural gallery: 18 commissioned artists, 11 of them Texas-based, with international contributors from Spain and London.

What surrounds the murals matters as much as the murals themselves. Co-founder Jessica Miller Essl has been clear about M2G’s stance: “At M2G, we don’t view art as an afterthought. Instead, it is a foundational pillar of our development strategy.” When the developer cares that much about the finish of a public space, the surface vendor’s standard isn’t allowed to drift.

That’s where we came in — and where the team picture is worth naming.

Project team

  • Developer: M2G Ventures (Fort Worth)
  • Landscape architect: Paperkites Studio — specified the surface palette, the three TurfHub products, and the design intent for how each one reads in context
  • Curator (mural gallery): Katie Murray, M2G Chief Creative Officer
  • Turf installer: Bearcat Turf

Paperkites Studio chose the turfs. Bearcat Turf installed them. That split is how this kind of project gets done well — design intent owned by a landscape architect who knows the catalog, build execution owned by an installer who can hold a commercial spec on a flat-site drainage challenge.

What Bearcat installed

5,600 SF of commercial-grade artificial turf across the gallery’s gathering and pathway zones, specified by Paperkites Studio and installed by our crew to handle high public foot traffic and the drainage realities of an enclosed alleyway. Three TurfHub products in the Paperkites spec:

  • TurfHub Coastal Blend Pro — the primary lawn-feel surface. Tri-color Field/Apple/Olive blade in a soft Mini Wave shape. Reads warm under direct sun and the gallery’s after-dark lighting.
  • TurfHub TH Pet — the higher-performance turf in zones where guests linger, pets attend events, and traffic concentrates. Antimicrobial, drainage-rated, holds up under boots and paws.
  • TurfHub Tour Elite — the putting-green nylon panel adding a tactile, premium accent. White natural rubber Action Back, 3/16” stitch gauge, true tournament feel.

Each product is on the spec sheet for a different reason. Coastal Blend Pro is for the look. TH Pet is for the abuse. Tour Elite is for the moment a guest stops, looks down, and registers that someone thought about the surface they’re standing on.

One thing every Bearcat install has in common: a 15-year manufacturer warranty. We don’t carry — and won’t quote — turf without it. The entire TurfHub catalog ships with a 15-year warranty on UV-stabilized, non-flammable, anti-acid yarn. That’s our baseline, not an upgrade. Cheaper turf exists; we don’t install it because the failure modes (premature fading, blade collapse, backing breakdown) all show up at year three on a public-traffic site, and we’d rather not be the vendor explaining that to a developer.

Built for commercial developers, GCs, and architects

The case studies of artificial turf you find online are almost all backyards. This one isn’t. If you’re a developer, general contractor, or architect scoping a mixed-use, hospitality, retail, or public-realm install — this is the case study you’ve been looking for.

What changes when commercial turf is done right by a vendor that builds at a developer’s spec:

  • Public-foot-traffic durability — commercial-grade turf laid over an engineered sub-base handles guest volumes that natural grass and homeowner-grade turf can’t. No mowing crews, no irrigation runs, no off-season brown.
  • Photographic consistency for leasing and marketing — tenants, signage partners, and your own marketing team photograph the property year-round. Surface that looks the same in December as it does in May is leverage on every side of your business.
  • Schedule like a hardscape — turf goes down on a defined timeline and exits the critical path fast. Treat it as scheduled trade, not landscape, and your pull-plan stays clean.
  • Lower lifecycle cost — concrete is permanent and unforgiving; sod requires irrigation, maintenance, and replacement. Commercial turf sits between them on cost and well above either on flexibility.
  • 15-year manufacturer warranty — UV-stabilized, non-flammable, anti-acid yarn across the entire TurfHub catalog. Real warranty backed by spec, not marketing.

Why drainage drove every decision

The Art Docks sits in a flat industrial alley between two buildings. Water has nowhere to go on its own. Get drainage wrong on a developer-funded commercial install and you’ve built a public space that turns into a pond every time North Texas gets a real storm — the kind of failure mode that ends a developer relationship.

Our drainage scope went well past laying down turf:

  1. Sub-base re-graded for positive flow away from the building foundations and toward existing storm-drain infrastructure
  2. Compacted drainage rock under every turf zone, depth-tuned to the alley’s pinch points
  3. Permeable backing on every roll — Coastal Blend Pro and TH Pet both run 30+ inches/hr drainage, so water passes through the turf, not over it
  4. Seam placement coordinated with grade so no water ponds at a transition line
  5. Edge details flush to existing concrete — no exposed sub-base, no trip points, no places for trash and leaves to collect against an edge

This is the kind of work that doesn’t show up in a photo. But it’s the difference between a gallery that opens in April and looks the same in October — and one that needs a budget line item for “regrade and reinstall” within 18 months.

Three things to take into your next commercial spec

Whether you’re scoping a mixed-use courtyard, a hospitality patio, a public-realm gathering space, or a retail tenant amenity:

  1. Surface treats land at the same level as the architecture. When M2G briefed The Art Docks, the surface wasn’t a value-engineering item — it was part of the experience. Brief your turf vendor that way and you’ll get the install you actually wanted.
  2. Specify the catalog, not “turf.” Calling for “artificial turf” by category is how you end up with homeowner-grade product on a public install. We chose three products on this job for three different roles. That is how you get a 15-year warranty that means something.
  3. Drainage protects your capital. A flat or partially enclosed site needs an engineered base, not just a roll-out. Ask the turf vendor to walk the drainage plan with the civil engineer. If they can’t, you have the wrong vendor.

How the team came together

Paperkites Studio led the landscape design and brought us in as the install partner once the surface palette was specified. M2G is Fort Worth-based; Bearcat is a Fort Worth–rooted, family-owned installer; Paperkites is a Dallas studio that knows the TurfHub catalog cold. The match-up matters: a landscape architect who can specify by product (not by category), a developer who treats the surface at the same level as the architecture, and an installer that can hold a commercial spec under a flat-site drainage challenge.

If you’re a landscape architect or design studio in DFW — we work the same way on every project. You own the design intent and the product spec. We hold the spec on the build, walk drainage with civil if it’s a complex site, and stay out of the way of the rest of the design team.

Commercial turf FAQ

Can you work inside a GC’s pull-plan?

Yes. We’ve installed alongside masonry, MEP rough-in, mural artists, restaurant build-outs, and tenant TIs. We sequence sub-base, base, and turf around the schedule the GC publishes. Where we need access windows or protected zones, we say so up front.

Do you handle the drainage engineering?

We handle the surface drainage scope — sub-base grading, drainage rock, permeable backing, seam-and-edge detailing. For complex sites with civil engineering involvement (storm-drain ties, French drains, retention) we coordinate with the project’s civil engineer rather than replace them.

Is artificial turf appropriate for public-realm and hospitality use?

When it’s specced and installed correctly, yes — we’ve installed it at design districts, mural galleries, schools, training facilities, restaurants, and breweries across DFW. The two failure modes (mismatched product spec and bad drainage) are both vendor problems, not category problems.

Are you HUB Certified?

Yes. Bearcat Turf is HUB Certified for public-sector and qualifying private procurement. Useful for ISD, municipal, and developer projects with HUB participation requirements.

Do you do site visits with developers, GCs, and architects?

Always. We’ll walk an active job site or a finished install with you, talk through spec, and answer drainage questions in person. Easier than a sample board.

Working with Bearcat on a commercial DFW project

We build at The Art Docks spec for any developer, GC, architect, or owner-rep working on a mixed-use, hospitality, retail, or public-realm site anywhere in DFW — Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Frisco, Plano, Allen, or the broader metroplex. Drainage-first sub-base, full TurfHub catalog plus Superior Turf Supply, coordinated trade schedules, HUB Certified, no out-of-area surcharge inside the metroplex.

Get a free site visit → · See the turf we install · Build a project estimate · Dallas service area

Coverage of The Art Docks:

Before

What we started with.

Decades of neglected grass and bare zones. Good bones — pool, sports court, kitchen all in place — but the surface tying it together had been losing the fight for years.

Before 1 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Before 2 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Before 3 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Before 4 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Before 5 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf

During

In the build.

Demo, sub-base lifts, laser grading, putting green build, and seaming. One week start to finish.

Construction 1 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 2 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 3 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 4 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 5 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 6 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 7 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 8 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 9 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 10 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 11 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 12 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 13 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 14 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 15 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 16 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 17 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 18 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 19 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Construction 20 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf

After

The finished space.

Completed-project photography — on-the-ground, in context.

After 1 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 2 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 3 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 4 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 5 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 6 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 7 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf After 8 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf

Aerial views

From the drone.

Overhead photography of the finished install — the scale, the surface palette, and the way the install reads in context.

Aerial 1 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 2 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 3 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 4 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 5 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 6 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 7 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 8 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 9 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 10 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 11 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 12 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 13 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 14 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 15 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 16 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 17 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 18 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 19 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 20 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 21 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 22 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 23 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 24 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 25 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 26 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 27 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 28 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 29 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 30 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 31 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 32 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 33 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf Aerial 34 — The Art Docks at Inwood Design District — 5,600 SF Commercial Turf