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  #21  
Old Posted Sep 18, 2007, 11:50 PM
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Nice. Can't wait to see this one done.
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  #22  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2007, 7:01 PM
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Fort Worth was over due for a nice modern tower like this. Good move.
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2007, 4:11 PM
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Rolling right along.



One of the more noticeable areas of work now is the ballroom. The steel beams going up across the building that you see are for the large, open span of the ballroom.



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  #24  
Old Posted Oct 1, 2007, 7:28 PM
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Cool. Thanks for the updates.
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  #25  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2007, 2:36 PM
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Just to be different, it's a nighttime update.



Here on the east side, the big steel framework is for the ballroom.



Closeup of ballroom work.

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  #26  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2007, 2:50 PM
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I need to get out to cowtown so i can get some pics for my self.
     
     
  #27  
Old Posted Oct 10, 2007, 7:36 PM
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That's awesome. Cool shot with the cranes up above.
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  #28  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2007, 2:18 PM
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I love this tower...very nice plans, too. Great addition to the FW skyline.
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  #29  
Old Posted Oct 29, 2007, 3:28 PM
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Movin' on up:











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  #30  
Old Posted Oct 29, 2007, 5:47 PM
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Looking good.
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  #31  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2007, 5:37 AM
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Recent article about the Omni from the Star-Telegram:

----------
Omni owner says FW hotel will go after high-end crowd
BY DAVID WETHE
DWETHE@STAR-TELEGRAM.COM

Be prepared to “drop some dollars” if you want to stay at the Omni Fort Worth convention center hotel and condo project, owner Robert Rowling said Monday.

The fourth-richest Texan, in a rare public appearance, spoke to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce at the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth about the latest developments with the $213 million project.

“We’re not after what I call the ‘floppy hat and sandal crowd’,” Rowling said. “That’s the business that’s been coming to Fort Worth traditionally because there wasn’t either a facility or a place for (the upscale convention guest) to stay. We’re after high-end corporate, high-end associates. We’re after people who will come here and not buy a hot dog for dinner. We want people who will come here and buy a three-course meal, a bottle of wine, go to the Bass concert hall for a high-end venue, and will drop some dollars.”

Here’s a sampling of what else he talked about:

TIMELINE

The opening date for the 607-room hotel, at the south end of downtown across from the Fort Worth Convention Center, has been delayed by about 30 days because of the rain affecting construction. It should open by December 2008.

RATES AND REVENUE

The hotel’s maximum room rate will be $349, but groups will be able to book for less than that based on the number of guests they’re bringing. Larry Auth, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, said group rates are ranging between $160 to $230 per night per room. He added that the hotel has not set its pricing plans for average travelers that aren’t part of a group. The $349 rate would be what the hotel would charge when it’s nearing capacity, for instance during the Super Bowl week in 2009 or on a NASCAR race weekend.

So far, 45 groups have pre-booked almost 80,000 room nights into 2015, Auth said.

Rowling said the project’s construction budget has grown 22 percent from $175 million. That will all be paid for by his company, TRT Holdings, which owns Omni Hotels. The city is paying for the construction of an 1,100-space parking garage next to the hotel and is offering tax abatements.

Only 60 percent of revenue the Omni generates are projected to come from room sales. That means the hotel is banking on almost half its revenue stream coming from its restaurants, bars and meeting space. For the first 10 years, Rowling estimated the hotel will generate more than a half-billion dollars in revenue.

‘FAKE’ GAYLORD HOTEL

Rowling said his hotel will be unusual.

He expects his hotel to be able to attract the same upscale group business that the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine is attracting, including “pharmaceutical” sales conventions and “high-end associations.”

“Theirs is all kind of fake, it’s all self-contained and it’s fake,” Rowling said of the Texana culture found at the Gaylord Texan. “We think that the customer that will want to come here versus going there will be somebody who says, ‘Well I want to really go to Fort Worth. I want to experience what Fort Worth has to offer.’”

WATER GARDENS

The Omni wants to take advantage of the newly renovated Fort Worth Water Gardens across the street and will cater events there, Rowling said. But the logistics of how a customer would coordinate that, whether through the city and the hotel, or just through the hotel sales office, has not been worked out yet, hotel and city officials said.

EMPLOYEES

The Omni project expects to is expected to have about 600 full-time equivalent employees by the time it opens.

CONDO SALES

About 25 percent of the project’s 89 luxury condominiums have been spoken for in the form of refundable deposits, Rowling said. About $500 per square foot is the average price for the units being negotiated, he said.

But costs to outfit the units are not cheap, Rowling said. High-end amenities include floor-to-ceiling glass, marble countertops and hardwood floors.

“We didn’t know if there was a market for $500-a-foot condominiums in Fort Worth,” he said. “We are positive there is now. That’s a relief because I’ll tell ya, we are not cutting a fat hog on the condominiums.”

If he sells all of the units at $500 per square foot, Omni is projected to make a 9 percent return on its investment. People interested in buying the residences include empty nesters, cutting horse owners, and “Barnett Shale people,” he said.

A HOME OF HIS OWN

The tower’s top floor, the 33rd, is off the market, Rowling said. The Highland Park resident said he’s taking the entire top floor for a second home.

“I just think it’s going to be good real estate down the road,” he said.

The average floor size is about 10,000 square feet, but it’s not clear how large Rowling’s apartment will be.. While Rowling will still maintain his official residency on the east side of the Metroplex next to the Dallas Country Club, the penthouse won’t go unused. His in-laws are Fort Worth residents.

“We’re over here every week anyway,” he said. “We’ll use it a lot.”
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  #32  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2007, 10:57 AM
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beautiful and i really love the interior and pool area renderings. very handsome, simple and chic.
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2007, 4:20 PM
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Recent pics:









New parking garage crane:

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  #34  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2007, 6:25 PM
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Great. Moving right along. Are there any renderings for the parking garage?
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  #35  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2007, 7:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas View Post
Great. Moving right along. Are there any renderings for the parking garage?
Yes (not super detailed, but it gives you an idea):



The parking garage is a new city garage, not associated with the Omni. It will serve south downtown and the Convention Center. It will be 12 stories tall and feature an Art Deco-inspired facade to keep it from looking like a garage. The corners will feature colored glass to give a "prism" effect, and the Houston St. and Throckmorton St. frontages will feature ground-level retail.

The Houston Street facade above is partly inspired by the old Fort Worth City Hall, now the Public Safety & Courts Building, up the street a couple of blocks:

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  #36  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2007, 9:51 PM
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Latest shot - with most of the steel framing on the lower levels done, they're really moving on the tower portions and some facade materials are going up now as well.

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  #37  
Old Posted Dec 16, 2007, 10:02 PM
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good,really good progress.Im excited for the facade
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  #38  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2008, 9:01 PM
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Latest shots:







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  #39  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2008, 10:26 PM
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It's looking longer than I had expected. Does it actually cover two blocks?
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  #40  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2008, 11:28 PM
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Yes - the Omni itself covers two blocks. The third block between it and the AT&T Building is where the new public garage is going.
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