Hotel Conversion Planned For Historic Office Tower In Downtown Fort Worth

An office-to-hotel conversion at a landmark property in Fort Worth is the latest in the lineup of high-profile projects headed for the city’s bustling downtown.

Icon Lodging plans to spend $33M on turning the former XTO Energy Building at 110 W. Seventh St. into a Residence Inn, according to licensing documents filed with the state.

The 101K SF tower, known colloquially as the Bob Simpson Building, is one of the city’s first skyscrapers and was designed in the early 1900s for First National Bank of Fort Worth. 

Icon bought the property from XTO last spring. The conversion is slated to begin in March and take about a year, according to state records.

Several adaptive reuse projects are underway in Downtown Fort Worth as developers look to capitalize on the submarket’s momentum. 

The Sandman Signature Hotel, which opened earlier this year, was another XTO office property snapped up by Northland Properties. BlueLofts Inc. bought two office buildings downtown to convert into apartments, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Fort Worth’s population has increased by more than 4% since 2020 to nearly 1 million, making it the fastest-growing city in the U.S. More than $2B of commercial development was underway in downtown alone as of early November. 

Other projects in the works downtown include Texas A&M’s new urban research campus, a $95M expansion of the city’s convention center, the redevelopment of the city’s Central Library, Crescent Fort Worth’s $275M mixed-use development and the expansion of the Omni Fort Worth hotel.

Hillwood, which acquired a full downtown block in October, has yet to announce plans for the property.