FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF)- Downtown Fort Worth is in the middle of hotel development boom, ahead of a long-time proposal to expand the Fort Worth Convention Center by 2026.
Nick Thomas research analyst for real estate company JLL said with this expansion and more events coming to the city since the Dickie’s Arena opened, hotel rooms are needed to meet the demand of visitors. “There’s been an uptick in construction for hotels not just new construction but renovation of former office properties that are being converted to new hospitality properties,” said Thomas. Thomas said from 2015 to 2019, the Average Daily Rate (ADR) has decreased by 3% to $166.94, Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) increased by 3% to $123.38, and room revenue totaled from all downtown hotels has increased by 23%.
At the same time, occupancy has increased nearly 5% to 73.6%, indicating strong activity across the entire week – both midweek and weekend nights.
For example, if Monday through Thursday had 100% occupancy with no weekend business, those midweek nights would still only account for 57% occupancy. This broad-based existing demand is supporting the current wave of new development. By 2021, just over 4,000 rooms across 18 hotels will be located downtown.
The 16-story, 252 room AC Hotel, that scheduled to open later this year, will be the largest new construction hotel in downtown since the 614-room Omni Hotel opened in 2009. 729 more rooms have delivered over the following decade, approximately the same number of rooms are currently under construction.
Development hasn’t only been limited to new construction as over 500,000 square feet of former office space will have been converted for hospitality projects by 2021 across four properties, three of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A 180-room Aloft Hotel opened on six floors of the 19-story One City Place building in 2018, and the 164-room Marriott Autograph Collection hotel opened in 2019 in the 16-story Sinclair Building.
Two former office buildings, most recently owned and occupied by XTO Energy, are currently being redeveloped. A 240-room Sandman Signature hotel will open in the 20-story W.T. Waggoner Building, and a 232-room Kimpton Hotel will open in the 24-story Farmers and Mechanics National Bank Building.