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One of downtown Fort Worth’s most storied buildings is for sale. JLL announced on Thursday that it is marketing the Bob R. Simpson Building at 110 W. 7th Street for sale, offering a rare opportunity to own the largest registered historic building in the city’s central business district.
The 11-story, 101,390-square-foot building, originally completed in 1910, has served as a financial, architectural, and corporate landmark for more than a century. Its beginnings date to the early boom days of Fort Worth, when the First National Bank of Fort Worth tapped renowned architects Sanguinet & Staats to design a classical beaux arts skyscraper just 50 feet wide, crowned with a colonnaded entrance on Houston Street, according to Architecture in Fort Worth. The building was constructed by William Miller Sons and Co. of Pittsburgh.
In 1926, architect Wyatt C. Hedrick designed an addition that doubled its Houston Street façade, while contractor Harry B. Friedman handled the construction. Though the addition added scale, its rear portion rose only three stories. By 1961, the bank relocated to a new headquarters at 500 W. 7th Street, and in 1965, investor E.L. Baker acquired the property and renamed it after himself.
The building’s most controversial chapter came in 1967, when a major renovation gutted much of its historic character. The original base was removed and replaced with pre-cast concrete panels, and eight new floors were added to the four-story rear section, bringing the full footprint to a quarter block. The elegant three-story banking hall was erased with the insertion of a floor above the mezzanine. Fort Worth firm Hueppelsheuser & White led the redesign, with Butcher & Sweeney as general contractors.
The result has since become a cautionary tale in historic preservation circles.
In 2003, XTO Energy — then owners of the W.T. Waggoner Building — purchased the building and began a thoughtful restoration. During interior renovations, crews uncovered remnants of the original banking lobby, including decorative plasterwork and parts of the mezzanine. The 1967 concrete base was removed, and the original base was reconstructed.
The building was rededicated as the Bob R. Simpson Building in 2005. After ExxonMobil acquired XTO in 2010, the structure remained in use as XTO’s regional headquarters.
Today, the building sits in a prime location just steps from Sundance Square and the Fort Worth Convention Center, surrounded by shopping, dining, and entertainment. With its central downtown zoning, the property offers flexible redevelopment options, whether as modern office space, boutique hotel, or residential conversion.
“110 W. 7th is a great opportunity to own a landmark building in the core of downtown Fort Worth,” said JLL Senior Managing Director Ryan Matthews in a statement. “The next owner has the option to knock out the interiors and keep it as office space or continue the path of converting the building to hospitality or residential.”
Matthews and Cannon Camp are representing the seller.