Fort Worth's Sundance Square names new CEO as Sasha Bass steps aside

Former Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus has been named the new president and CEO of Sundance Square, replacing Sasha Bass, who has led the 37-block downtown commercial district since 2019.

Kraus began his career at Sundance Square leading the security division after a 29-year career with the Fort Worth Police Department. He has led the company’s strategic focus in areas including safety operations and organizational excellence. He begins his new role Sept. 1. Sundance Square said the move culminates a succession planning process that began when Kraus joined the company in 2021.

“We are blessed to have very talented teams at Sundance Square working together to make an impact far greater than any of us could do alone. I am humbled to step into this role, and I will lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place,” Kraus said in a statement.

Brothers Sid and Lee Bass began developing Sundance Square and the City Center Towers in the early 1980s. In 1983, Ed Bass opened the Caravan of Dreams night club, which spurred development in Sundance Square, including the Sundance West apartments. Ed and his wife Sasha took over full ownership of Sundance Square in fall 2019.

Sasha Bass aimed to transform Sundance Square to more largely promote the arts and small businesses.

By 2021 during the COVID pandemic, nearly a third of the storefronts downtown were closed. Sundance Square launched a program in 2022 to bring local entrepreneurs to the area. Businesses selected received free marketing and design consulting. Today, around 60 businesses call Sundance Square home.

Bass’ focus on live events helped double the number of visitors to Sundance Square to 17 million in 2025, Sundance Square said. Thousands gather in the plaza for Saturday evening concerts, and crowds for the World Cup watch parties spilled onto Main Street.

She also developed Sundance Square into a public art campus, with installations from national and international artists. The glittering rhinestone cowboy hat resting in the plaza is a popular photo opp with the Tarrant County Courthouse standing in the background.

“The work at Sundance is much bigger than any one of us. We are proud to have created a space that has something for everyone - a place where everyone can feel they belong and where everyone is treated with dignity and respect,” Sasha Bass said in a statement.

Sasha Bass called Kraus a strategic thinker who has made impactful contributions the past five years.

“I could not be more confident in his abilities and in his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition as I focus more of my time leading the Sasha and Edward P. Bass family foundation,” she said.

In recent years popular businesses have left the district. Reata left its location at Houston and West Third streets for The Tower in 2024. Months earlier, neighbor Four Day Weekend lost its lease after performing at its location for 27 years.

Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc. called Kraus a proven leader who has seen Sundance Square from multiple angles.

“Ed and Sasha have placed a great responsibility on his shoulders with this promotion and I know the community will rally around his efforts.,” Taft wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram.

Fort Worth City Council member Elizabeth Beck represents downtown and has previously supported the growth of small businesses in Sundance Square. She called Kraus an exceptional leader.

“Sundance Square and Fort Worth as a whole are lucky to have his continued leadership in our community. I am excited to see him take the reins of Sundance Square,” Beck wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram.

In May, Sundance announced it was contracting with real estate services firm JLL to do “targeted retail leasing” of over 105,000 square feet of space. The move came nearly six years after Sundance Square transitioned to an in-house leasing team in November 2020.

In July 2025, Sundance hired Fort Worth-based LanCarte Commercial to lease out a handful of the district’s office properties.