Officials with the Stockyards Heritage Development Co. on Thursday confirmed reports that it had purchased the historic Stockyards Hotel, 101 E. Exchange Ave., as well as the adjoining H3 Ranch, and Booger Red’s Saloon.
Terms were not disclosed.
The Stockyards Heritage Development Co., a joint venture of Majestic Realty Co. and the Hickman Companies, is the owner of the Hotel Drover and the redeveloped Mule Alley, both considerable commercial hits in the iconic corridor on the North Side, as well as the Hyatt Place Hotel.
“We are proud to take on this legacy property, a cornerstone of the District with its very prominent Main and Exchange location,” says Craig Cavileer, managing partner of the Stockyards Heritage Development Co. “The hotel and restaurant are now a part of our Stockyards holdings.”
Entrepreneur and alderman T.M. Thannisch had built the original Stockyards Hotel, a wood structure, in 1897. He built the expanded three-story edifice, which sits at the corner of North Main and Exchange in 1907. The ground floor housed the Stockyards Club, a pool room, barber shop, and public bath.
Between 1913-32, the hotel reached its apex as Fort Worth grew to be a meat packing hub. Drovers who herded cattle to market stayed there after the sale. Rooms overlooked either North Main, Exchange, or Marine Creek. Ranchers, who came into town with their families to shop, and rodeo performers all stayed there. It is generally believed that the notorious Bonnie and Clyde, outlaws who met their fate in Louisiana, though there is a letter that verifies the story, we’re told. That letter actually might still be at the hotel. It once was part of the wall décor of a “Bonnie and Clyde Room.”
When the rodeo left, and the railroad took over the business of cattle shipping, the hotel and the Stockyards languished.
That was yesteryear. Today, the Stockyards are booming.
Stockyards Heritage Development Co. has led a sometimes-controversial revitalization of the Stockyards, having invested more than $200 million over the past three years with plans to invest an additional $500 million over the next five years as it builds out its 70-acre holdings in the 200-acre district.
“With the opening of the Drover last year we found an entirely new customer for the Stockyards, complemented by our new Mule Alley project and we’ve hosted more than six million visitors to the Stockyards over the past year,” says Kayla Wilkie, director of design and development for Majestic Realty Co. and Stockyards Heritage Development Co. “With our new Stockyards Hotel and H3 property we look forward to honoring its rich history while working towards a refurbishment of the hotel over the next year.”
Officials say the H3 Ranch will be closed, effective immediately, for renovations. Reopening is slated for July.