Omni Fort Worth planning new tower, additional 400 rooms

Omni Hotel Fort Worth rendering 

Ten years since opening, Omni Fort Worth is now planning to become one of the largest hotels in North Texas.

The developers of Omni Fort Worth are proposing a $174 million expansion of the hotel.

The plan includes constructing a separate tower, to be located one block south of the hotel at Lancaster Avenue and Houston Street. The tower, an annex to the 34-story main hotel building, will add an additional 400 rooms.

The project does not intend to close 14th Street, which will run parallel to the buildings.

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Currently, the proposed property is occupied by the May Owen Center, an administrative building for Tarrant County College. The hotel developers, Omni Fort Worth Partnership L.P, said it will finish purchasing the property within this month.

If and when the expansion project completes, Omni Fort Worth will have a total of 1,008 rooms, which is a few rooms more than what is available at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Dallas. The plan also includes 50,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Fort Worth hotel’s developers has said that certain changes could be made on the plan’s design as the project moves forward in the next few months.

The developers expect to complete the expansion project by Dec. 31, 2023.

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The expansion project is contingent on the approval of the City of Fort Worth. The Downtown Design Review Board will also review the project.

The proposal was brought for consideration of the Lancaster Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone [TIF] board of directors in a meeting on Wednesday, March 4.

The board approved a $5 million grant from the TIF fund to be used for some soft costs, like streetscape improvements.

The hotel expansion has been talked about for some time, particularly as Visit Fort Worth embarks on a 10-year, community-wide Destination Master Plan to increase the city’s visibility and economy through tourism. Part of that involves a Convention Center Design Committee that is looking to move forward on expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center. That project is expected to increase exhibit space by 53,000 square feet, meeting room spaces by 23,000 square feet. Part of that plan includes increasing new convention hotel rooms in Downtown Fort Worth.