Old Oil & Gas Tower Poised for Swanky New Life as Downtown Fort Worth Hotel
January 13,2026
See full Hoodline article by Sofia Vasquez here.
Downtown Fort Worth’s mid-century Oil & Gas Building is one big step closer to trading drafting tables for do-not-disturb signs. Newly filed plans with the city outline a boutique hotel conversion that would tuck guest rooms into the historic tower, add ground-floor retail and cap the whole thing with a rooftop restaurant and bar. The proposal calls for restoring the building’s original base and bringing a lineup of hospitality amenities, including a spa, meeting rooms and a pool, back to W. 7th Street. The application lists a team of local investors and designers and pitches the effort as adaptive reuse rather than a teardown.
The 16-story Oil & Gas Building at 309 W. 7th St. was completed in 1952 and designed by Houston architect J. Russ Baty. Its modernist shell and mid-century detailing sit at the heart of the makeover plans. Developers’ drawings highlight reintroducing the granite base and sandstone planes stripped away in later remodels and activating the corner with sidewalk-level entries and cafés. As outlined by Fort Worth Architecture, the tower has long been linked to the neighboring Star-Telegram complex and is treated as a locally significant structure.
Details In The City Filing
According to the application reported by Fort Worth Report, the project is listed as the Oil and Gas Hotel. Plans show hotel uses running from roughly the fourth floor through the 17th, with a rooftop restaurant and bar on top. Lower levels would hold a lobby, spa, meeting rooms and a pool. The filing names Ajay Kothari as the applicant and notes that Bennett Partners prepared the design work. It does not specify how many rooms the hotel would ultimately include.
How It Fits Into A Hot Downtown Hotel Scene
The Oil & Gas Hotel concept would join a steady string of adaptive-reuse hospitality projects downtown, where older office towers are being revived as hotel space and new rooms are being added near convention activity. Downtown Fort Worth has highlighted nearby conversions such as the Bob R. Simpson building, and the recent opening of Le Méridien shows that demand for downtown rooms has not cooled. The Sandman Signature remains closed after a January 2024 explosion that injured 21 people, an incident that temporarily removed about 245 rooms from the downtown market and still factors into planning and recovery talks along W. 7th Street.
What Happens Next
City staff will now review the plans, with preservation panels weighing in where required because of the building’s historic status and the extent of the proposed facade work. The filing does not include a construction start date or a final room count. Public hearings and the permitting process will determine how much of the original mid-century exterior can be reconstructed. If the project moves forward, developers say the goal is to bring street-level storefronts back to life while preserving and selectively restoring the tower’s historic architectural elements.
Location Mentioned: Oil & Gas / Star-Telegram Building