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View Full Version : Omni breaks ground on Fort Worth project


Corinth940
Aug 21, 2006, 11:41 PM
from the Dallas Business Journal...


Omni Hotels broke ground on a new 600-room, $170 million hotel and condominium project in downtown Fort Worth.

The hotel is located across from the Fort Worth Convention Center on Houston Street.


Aside from guest rooms, the 34-story hotel will have stores, restaurants and 95 condominiums. Restaurants and stores will include Bob's Steak & Chop House, a full-service Starbuck's, a sports bar, a wine bar and a museum store.

Omni estimates the development will add hundreds of jobs and provide $1.88 billion in indirect economic benefit to Fort Worth over 20 years.

Omni, an Irving-based hotel chain, anticipates a delivery date of late 2008.

The hotel chain has about 14,500 rooms in 40 hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Omni owns 33 of those hotels and has an ownership stake in some others. The company is a subsidiary of TRT Holdings, the diversified holding company for Texas billionaire Robert Rowling.

John R
Aug 22, 2006, 3:07 AM
This story is from the Omni's press release from over the weekend. All of the previous information that I had, indicated the hotel would be 38 stories. I visited with the architect several times over the course of the construction document phase and he told me that the height keeps increasing. I actually don't have the final overall height of the building, but it looks as if it will be around 500 feet.

Onward
Aug 22, 2006, 5:54 AM
Wow such great news for a great city!

John R
Aug 22, 2006, 9:44 AM
It appears there are 34 occupiable levels in the building with 4 floors of mechanical space.

Major AWACS
Aug 22, 2006, 1:15 PM
any renderings?

Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,
Capt-AWACS, Europe-Closed from 1100-1300 daily

Corinth940
Aug 22, 2006, 4:46 PM
This is the pic that was shown on the local NBC Fort Worth station the other night..sorry but I can't seem to get a larger, clearer version.


http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e255/corinth940/OmniFortWorth.jpg

John R
Aug 22, 2006, 10:38 PM
Here's a high resolution version of the rendering:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/omnihotel.jpg

There are two renderings out on the hotel. The one above is computer generated. The other rendering is a water color from a different viewpoint. If you don't mind the upload, I have an 8 MB PDF presentation on the building. This presentation also includes floor plans of the public areas of the hotel.

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/Omni.pdf

Somewhere, I may have the water color version. I have been sent a lot of information on the hotel.

Corinth940
Aug 22, 2006, 10:44 PM
Sweet!! Thanks John...I knew you of all people would probably have a terrific rendering of this.

I really like this design..:yes:

John R
Aug 22, 2006, 10:51 PM
Thanks.

Dale
Aug 23, 2006, 12:56 AM
Surprisingly spiffy. Takes the sting out of the downsizing of the 900 footer.

KevinFromTexas
Aug 23, 2006, 5:15 AM
Thanks for the update. It looks nice. It should be a great addition to the skyline. I'm really glad they stuck with this design. I'll look forward to seeing it in person.

Onward
Aug 23, 2006, 5:51 AM
Were really love the look of it!

John R
Aug 23, 2006, 9:35 AM
Thanks for the comments. Excavation of the site starts today! I'm sure I will have construction shots to post soon. This is the tallest building built in Fort Worth since the 1984 completion of the D.R. Horton Tower (City Center II)

Dale
Aug 23, 2006, 2:51 PM
I thought I'd read somewhere 499'.

John R
Aug 23, 2006, 9:52 PM
You probably read that at www.fortwortharchitecture.com. In May, the height to the mechanical roof, not including the elevator overrun, was 498'-6". The architect was going to get the height of the elevator overrun once it was set. A little later, I found out that the overall building had increased by 8'-6". That would make the mechanical roof at 507'-0" above finish floor at the entrance, but the overrun height had still yet to be determined. I gave both the hotel chain and the architect several weeks to get the design finalized. As groundbreaking approached, I called and e-mailed both the hotel chain and the architect several times, but my calls and e-mails were not returned. I mentioned to a reporter friend that I was not able to get any information on height so they stated they would try to find out. The question was asked at the groundbreaking and a reply was made that the company and the architect would not be releasing the overall height information to the public. The "official" line is the height of the building is between the heights of The Tower (488 ft.) and Carter+Burgess Plaza (525 ft.).

427MM
Aug 23, 2006, 10:28 PM
It looks great. I’ve always liked hotels with balconies.

Dale
Aug 24, 2006, 2:18 AM
510' or so will really stand out, given the design and the location.

This and The Tower will really invigorate an already respectable skyline.

OfCourse
Aug 24, 2006, 10:08 PM
Looks nice. Ft. Worth already kicks enough ass as it is, this will make it kick more. Ha. :cool:

John R
Aug 25, 2006, 12:15 AM
I'm anxious to see it start coming out of the ground. I didn't get to the site yesterday or today to see the progress. According to the construction schedule, erection of construction fences and some demolition and excavation work was to start yesterday.

John R
Aug 30, 2006, 2:59 AM
I did make it by on Friday and they were scraping up the parking lots that were once on the site. I guess that demolition has actually started!

AggieFrog02
Nov 8, 2006, 9:29 PM
Any updates or pictures of the site?

John R
Nov 9, 2006, 4:43 AM
I have some. These pictures will be changed out as time goes by and they will be taken from the four corners of the building. These photos were taken on April 1, 2007.

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/omni-const-sw.jpg

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/omni-const-se.jpg

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/omni-const-ne.jpg

http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/omni-const-nw.jpg

KevinFromTexas
Nov 9, 2006, 5:57 AM
The convention center design is fantastic. John, can you post some photos of it? Next time I'm up there I have got to check it out, I love that facade.

John R
Nov 10, 2006, 5:58 AM
Kevin, I have now started a thread on the Fort Worth Convention Center, complete with exterior and interior photographs.

John R
Nov 12, 2006, 1:55 AM
Piers are being drilled, and a tower crane is now starting to come out of the north end of the excavation. New photographs of the construction have already posted in place of the older ones.

Metro Matt
Nov 12, 2006, 3:21 AM
Was this supposed to be that 900 footer proposed a few months back? What ever happened to that project, Fort Worth is over due for a new signature tower.

John R
Nov 12, 2006, 5:43 AM
No, this building was always planned as a hotel. It started out at 22 stories and has grown to 34 or 38 floors. Condominiums were added on top of the building as a way to make the building pay for itself.

The condominium portion of the 900 footer has been removed, so the building has been shortened to about 30 stories. However, I have also heard rumors the project is completely dead.

John R
Nov 18, 2006, 6:52 PM
One tower crane at the Omni Hotel started going up yesterday. By Monday, it should be operational. I will have new photographs soon.

Gallup
Nov 19, 2006, 11:09 PM
I have always liked this area, gives me something more to look forward to for Christmas.

John R
Nov 21, 2006, 1:14 AM
I was a little wrong on my guess for the time to erect the crane. It appears they finished it up this afternoon. I have now upated the photos on page one, and if anyone wants to see the latest construction shots, go here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=2440171&postcount=22

KevinFromTexas
Nov 21, 2006, 5:19 PM
Is the crane provided by Texas Crane Services by any chance? Does it say "Texas Crane" at the top? What company is it?

John R
Dec 21, 2006, 4:00 AM
I've now updated the pictures on the first page with new ones taken on December 17, 2006. The hotel is still yet to come out of the ground, but at least many piers have been drilled and poured. A base for a second tower crane is now in place on the west side of the site. Finally, the ugly SBC building has a new logo on it, just installed last week. It now has the familiar AT&T Globe on the side of the building.

John R
Dec 31, 2006, 2:36 PM
Foundation work has finally begun on the building. You can see the latest photos that I have uploaded on page one of this thread. I also have heard rumors on the new height and if true, this building will just fall short of being the new tallest in the city.

Double L
Jan 1, 2007, 1:48 AM
Very nice. So this will be the second tallest building in Fort Worth?

John R
Jan 3, 2007, 4:11 AM
It's looking that way, and I'm trying to confirm it at the current time. It may take a few days.

CTroyMathis
Jan 3, 2007, 5:31 AM
Let us know when you can John.

Regardless, it'll be quite exciting watching this one go up no matter the minute details of height.

John R
Jan 5, 2007, 4:28 AM
They've poured columns on the north half of the third underground level this week. Finally construction is rising out of the hole. I will get new photos this weekend.

John R
Jan 13, 2007, 8:20 PM
I've now updated the photos on the first page of this thread. They were taken on January 7, 2007.

John R
Jan 18, 2007, 1:51 AM
They started assembling the second tower crane this week.

John R
Jan 29, 2007, 3:59 AM
I've now updated the construction photos on the first page of this thread. I also have new height information for the building. It appears it will be 547'-0" high. The reason I have put it down to feet and inches is that the D.R. Horton Tower is 546'-9". This will make the Omni Hotel the city's second talles building by 3" when completed, if the height does not change again.

KevinFromTexas
Jan 29, 2007, 4:35 AM
Awesome. At Emporis, though, they round up heights. So if the D.R. Horton Tower is 546 feet 9 inches, it'll say 546.75 which would be rounded up to 547 feet. How many floors will it have? 34? Or 38?

John R
Jan 29, 2007, 4:44 AM
From the latest drawings that I have, it appears there's 34 occupiable floors and 4 mechanical levels inside the mechanical penthouse. The drawings that the City of Fort Worth furnished me on the Omni are reduced and are very difficult to read. There is a chance that my 547' number might not be right. I have had trouble getting official confirmation on the number, but I also have another source giving the same height.

John R
Jan 30, 2007, 2:34 AM
Kevin, on the number of floors, we may just have to wait until they are built to see the function that they serve. Press releases have given both 34 and 38 for the number of floors in the building.

KevinFromTexas
Jan 30, 2007, 7:23 AM
Usually mechanical floors aren't counted in official floor number counts. This is because those levels are off limits to the public and as a private individual it's hard to find out how many mechanical levels there are. So they're usually just not even counted. Also they have to be enclosed, not just a catwalk level or something, but they should be an actual enclosed room. I know the Frost Bank Tower has atleast 2 mechanical levels above the mainroof for the elevator motors and some of the junk for the HVAC. That would push its floor count to 35, but those levels aren't counted, though. Basement levels are also not counted in official floor level counts, though, they are usually counted seperately as underground levels.

The reason I asked how man floors the hotel would have, is that being that close in height to the D.R. Horton Tower, and both will likely be listed as being 547 feet tall, the D.R. Horton Tower has 38 floors. Which ever building has more floors would be listed as the taller building. If they're both tied for height and floor count then they're usually listed with the older building first, then the newer one.

John R
Feb 3, 2007, 6:22 PM
Kevin, I actually agree with all of the general rules. I was giving you specific information so you could list the building correctly. I also don't believe that mechanical levels should be counted. The only reason there is some confusion is the height has increased from 499 ft. up to 547 ft. and the number of floors appears to be different from Omni's press releases. That is why I think we will have to wait until the structural frame is complete to see how many floors the building will really have.

NDtexan
Feb 3, 2007, 9:21 PM
Kevin, I actually agree with all of the general rules. I was giving you specific information so you could list the building correctly. I also don't believe that mechanical levels should be counted. The only reason there is some confusion is the height has increased from 499 ft. up to 547 ft. and the number of floors appears to be different from Omni's press releases. That is why I think we will have to wait until the structural frame is complete to see how many floors the building will really have.

Why do the actual height of this building and the number of floors it'll have seem to be such a huge secret? Is there a reason that Omni and the developers haven't publicly announced the figures? It can't be because they're still working out the final details (when construction is about to go vertical already), can it?

John R
Feb 4, 2007, 2:07 AM
With the foundation being constructed as we speak, the total number of floors and overall height of the building within a few inches should be fixed. There is no "official" word on the height of the building. It has actually never been released. An Omni executive was asked privately at the groundbreaking about the height and the reply was, "They would not be releasing that information." The information that I do have is directly from the City of Fort Worth. They own the land on which the hotel sits. I have also watched all of the presentations to governing boards on this project on my the local cable access channel.

My gut feeling on this project is they have revised the plans for the building until it has become the city's tallest, but they don't want to release the information for fear that possibly another project could be designed at a taller height, even though the other two high rise proposals for the city have been canceled.

As for why it is such a huge secret, I can't tell you. I'm really at a loss on this one. You would think that they wouldn't mind releasing this information. One of the big problems that I have is that the Project Architect for the project is a friend, and I used to work with him and I have known him for nearly 20 years. All I could get out of him were vague and misleading answers, or that it hasn't been determined yet. I have another contact at Omni Hotels and I also could not get a straight answer. When the top executive told us they wouldn't be releasing the information, I finally decided to pursue other avenues.

Monoxide
Feb 4, 2007, 10:04 PM
My gut feeling on this project is they have revised the plans for the building until it has become the city's tallest, but they don't want to release the information for fear that possibly another project could be designed at a taller height, even though the other two high rise proposals for the city have been canceled.



That's the most possible answer, height competion. Still, the real height has to be set in stone right? Also, with 34 floors of usable floors, how many more can they add to the project with the foundation already in place. It can only go so much more without having to widen the foundation so there has to be a limit in how many more floors can be squeezed in at last minute.

NDtexan
Feb 5, 2007, 3:38 AM
With the foundation being constructed as we speak, the total number of floors and overall height of the building within a few inches should be fixed. There is no "official" word on the height of the building. It has actually never been released. An Omni executive was asked privately at the groundbreaking about the height and the reply was, "They would not be releasing that information." The information that I do have is directly from the City of Fort Worth. They own the land on which the hotel sits. I have also watched all of the presentations to governing boards on this project on my the local cable access channel.

My gut feeling on this project is they have revised the plans for the building until it has become the city's tallest, but they don't want to release the information for fear that possibly another project could be designed at a taller height, even though the other two high rise proposals for the city have been canceled.

As for why it is such a huge secret, I can't tell you. I'm really at a loss on this one. You would think that they wouldn't mind releasing this information. One of the big problems that I have is that the Project Architect for the project is a friend, and I used to work with him and I have known him for nearly 20 years. All I could get out of him were vague and misleading answers, or that it hasn't been determined yet. I have another contact at Omni Hotels and I also could not get a straight answer. When the top executive told us they wouldn't be releasing the information, I finally decided to pursue other avenues.


Definitely some interesting circumstances...thanks for the info, John.

John R
Feb 5, 2007, 4:46 AM
There is a limit on how much height or how many floors can be squeezed in at the last minute. My guess is that all of the changes have been occurring while the building was in design and only maybe while they were digging the hole. Once they started drilling piers and pouring the foundation, I'm sure the overall number of floors and total height was set.

John R
Feb 11, 2007, 2:54 PM
Paperwork was filed with some of the regulatory agencies and the Omni Hotel is officially listed as a 34 story building.

John R
Feb 25, 2007, 12:49 AM
They now have a web cam up so you can view the construction online. Below is a link to the camera:

http://www.austinprojects.com/Omni/webcam.html

Atomic Glee
Mar 20, 2007, 3:07 PM
As can be seen in this webcam screenshot, the building is now starting to rise above the hole and construction fence:

http://fortworthology.com/blogpics/omniwebcam1.jpg

John R
Apr 10, 2007, 1:58 AM
I've now updated the rotating pictures with shots taken on April 1, 2007. It won't be long before the building will be up to the ground level.

Double L
Apr 10, 2007, 6:35 PM
Do we have renderings of the DR Horton Tower?

John R
Apr 11, 2007, 1:49 AM
The D.R. Horton Tower is a completed building. It was completed in 1984. Would you like to see renderings of the Omni Fort Worth Hotel?

John R
Apr 11, 2007, 2:48 AM
I also have a height update on the Omni. It has been increased another 4" to 547'-4". The new height is 10" taller than the D.R. Horton Tower.

GoldenBoot
Apr 11, 2007, 9:59 PM
Are you sure the Omni Hotel (& Residences) is only 34 stories tall? I find it odd that the structure averages 16' per floor when most hotel/condo developments average between 11' and 12' per floor - and there is no spire or other "crown" to this building...

John R
Apr 12, 2007, 4:04 AM
I have the design presentation that was made to the Downtown Design Review Board. At that time, the hotel was 499' tall with the bottom three floors at 16'-0" or greater floor to floor height. There are also four mechanical floors on top of the 34 occupiable floors, plus the sloped glass top. I agree that the floor to floor height sounds a little tall when averaged out, but all of the information that I have indicates the building has become taller without adding floors. On the other hand, much of the information is contradictory. Several press releases say the hotel is 34 stories and others say it is 38. Also, the official height has never been released. I've only found out this information through various sources and through drawings released by the City of Fort Worth. The reason the city has a lot of printed and digital information is that they own the land on which the building sits. Therefore, they are releasing quite a few drawings on request from the citizens.

leaf
Apr 12, 2007, 1:48 PM
They should have gone for the extra height to make it the tallest in the City. Burnett Plaza looks like it is #1 at 567 ft.

John R
Apr 12, 2007, 11:27 PM
Burnett Plaza will remain as the city's tallest. I agree with you, they should have designed the Omni to become the city's tallest building. Especially since the 900' Block TU Tower and the 50 Story XTO Tower are not going to be built. I guess the good news is that we do have a 7 story and a 16 story just beginning construction in downtown right now.

Mopacs
Apr 13, 2007, 1:02 PM
Burnett Plaza will remain as the city's tallest. I agree with you, they should have designed the Omni to become the city's tallest building. Especially since the 900' Block TU Tower and the 50 Story XTO Tower are not going to be built. I guess the good news is that we do have a 7 story and a 16 story just beginning construction in downtown right now.

Are there other renderings out there for the Omni, beyond what is posted in this thread? I'm curious to see how it will fit in with the overall skyline. My guess is, the Omni will look comparable in height with Burnett, when viewed from a distance.