One of the longtime centerpieces of the Stockyards, the Stockyards Hotel building, is getting a $20 million remodel. Stockyards Heritage Development Co., the joint venture of Majestic Realty and the Hickman Cos., purchased the hotel at 109 E. Exchange Ave., as well as the adjoining H3 Ranch and Booger Red’s Saloon, in 2022. 

According to a filing with the state, work on the 26,500-square-foot hotel will begin in January 2025 and be complete in mid-2026. According to the filing, developers will demolish the interior and remodel the existing 50 rooms, add a new front canopy and renovate the exterior patio and public spaces. The architects for the projects are Dallas-based Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects. 

No word at present of what will become of the Bonnie and Clyde Junior Suite, the room occupied by outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker during a 1933 stay in Fort Worth, a year before their deaths in Louisiana. The suite features a king-size bed, a writing desk and memorabilia reflecting the lives of the storied couple. Included in the suite is a poem written by Bonnie for Clyde. 

The poem prophetically ends: 

“They’ve been shot at before, but they do not ignore.

“That death is the wages of sin.

“Some day they’ll go down together. 

“And they’ll bury them side by side.

“To few it’ll be grief, to the law a relief.

“But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.” 

More history will be written or rewritten in the Stockyards, as Majestic is planning a $630 million expansion that will include 300,000 square feet of new commercial space, two underground parking garages, 500 hotel rooms and nearly 300 apartments. Other investments are also taking place in the area. The John Wayne: An American Experience museum has added 3,500 square feet of new exhibit space and expanded its gift shop area. 

Meanwhile, plans are for a veteran-owned distillery group to open a tasting room and restaurant in the Los Vaqueros building at 2629 N. Main St., while Los Vaqueros relocates to 2515 Rodeo Plaza, near the John Wayne museum. 

The activity in the Stockyards began in 2014, when Majestic partnered with Hickman on a $250 million development plan that saw the Hotel Drover open and Mule Alley redeveloped into a retail and entertainment hub. At the time, the Stockyards saw about 3 million visitors. Now, it attracts 9 million. 

Business park zoning site sold in east Fort Worth 

A 4-acre parcel zoned for business park use in the active east Fort Worth submarket has been sold. Younger Partners’ Michael Ytem, senior vice president, represented the seller, Bridge Cap Partners, in the 2525 Handley Ederville Road transaction. Forrest Cook, a senior vice president at Stream Realty Partners, represented the buyer, G-Catch LLC.

The site near Interstate 820 and State Highway 121 once held the 150,000-square-foot Advanced Foam Recycling, which was destroyed in a fire in 2021. Following that event, the structure was razed and the pad scraped, with the seller acquiring it in 2022.

“The location drove interest in the site. It’s at the very edge of where the east Fort Worth submarket ends and the Mid-Cities begins,” Ytem said. “With major thoroughfare access, it’s ideal for servicing both Fort Worth and Dallas.”

Cook said the new owner plans to build flex and retail buildings on the acreage.

“East Fort Worth continues to be a highly sought-after industrial market due to high barriers to entry coupled with excellent labor and connectivity with the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex,” he added. 

Lone Star Beer gets a bobblehead 

Brewed in Fort Worth, Lone Star Beer and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an officially licensed, limited-edition Lone Star Beer Bobblehead to celebrate the 140th anniversary for “The National Beer of Texas” and National Drink a Beer Day, which is Saturday, Sept. 28. 

The bobblehead features the Lone Star armadillo drinking a bottle of Lone Star Beer, and the armadillo’s tail also bobbles.

Associated with the brand since the 1970s, the armadillo appears on most of Lone Star’s merchandise. The bobblehead features the armadillo laying on its back and holding a bottle of Lone Star with the Lone Star labels prominently displayed. Each bobblehead is individually numbered to 2,024, and they are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s online store. The bobbleheads, which are expected to ship in January, are $30 each, plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.

Founded by Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch in 1884 as the Alamo Brewing Company of San Antonio, the Lone Star Brewery was the first large, mechanized brewery in Texas. Now owned by Pabst Brewing Company, the beer is still marketed as “The National Beer of Texas.” Production of Lone Star is currently contracted to Miller Brewing Company in Fort Worth. Available in almost every state, roughly 80% of Lone Star’s sales are made within its home state.

How did Texas’ signature placental mammals, the armadillo, become intertwined with Lone Star Beer? It was through an association with another Texas legend. 

In 1974, Barry Sullivan, Lone Star marketing vice president, took a trip to Armadillo World Headquarters — a legendary, since-shuttered Austin music hall and beer garden that featured musicians such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and other soon-to-be-legends — to meet with its in-house artist, Jim Franklin. 

Sullivan asked Franklin to draw whatever he wanted, as long as it depicted a bottle of Lone Star and some nod to Texas culture. The result was an illustration of an armadillo running around a post-apocalyptic wasteland with Lone Star bottle necks sticking out of the sand. Sullivan left the Lone Star team to start his own business in 1977, but the armadillo would become the armored centerpiece of Lone Star’s marketing.

For many years, Lone Star only produced two beers: its original lager and Lone Star Light. But in the spring of 2020, Lone Star launched Mexican-style lager Rio Jade as its first-ever seasonal release. A few months later, the brand rolled out Das Bier Y’all, a peach-flavored German-style kölsch. 

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Milwaukee — another place known for beer, though not armadillos. 

Tanger adds two retailers 

Tanger Fort Worth announced two new additions to its growing lineup of retailers. National apparel brand Buckle is set to join the roster this fall, and family-owned footwear brand Spring Step Shoes recently opened at the center. A newly renovated Coach is also open in a fresh space, and Ulta Beauty is coming to the center soon.

Opening this fall in a 5,000-square-foot location across from Old Navy, Buckle carries a wide selection of fits, styles and finishes from top denim brands and exclusive-to-Buckle denim label brands. The retailer offers services like free hemming, gift packaging and personal styling. 

Do you have something for the Bob on Business column? Email Bob Francis at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.

Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.