[Urbannizer]

Omni Fort Worth plans $217M expansion with second hotel tower, garage and restaurant

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article264571581.html

A major expansion of the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, which was sidelined during the pandemic, is back on track with plans for a second smaller tower extending to West Lancaster Avenue and an additional parking garage.

The $217 million project will result in a 400-room expansion over an entire city block, currently the site of a Tarrant Community College administrative building. Omni is under contract with TCC to purchase the property. The city of Fort Worth would contribute $53 million in incentives to the project.

When the work is complete, including a refresh of the existing hotel, the Omni Fort Worth will have 1,008 rooms over two blocks across from the Fort Worth Convention Center along Houston Street. The existing Omni tower is 33 stories and was built in 2009. It is unclear how many stories the new tower will have, but renderings show it would be similar in height to other Lancaster corridor buildings.

The expansion was expected to start moving forward in March 2020, but COVID-19 shut down the country and upended the travel industry. The halt forced a full reconsideration of the project, which at the time had a $174 million price tag.