Fort Worth Stockyards Luxury Hotel Set for $160M Resort

A Fort Worth Stockyards luxury hotel project is moving forward at one of the district's most visible corners. Delightful Development Co. and Woodbine Development Co. have announced plans for a $160 million resort at Main and 23rd Street. The site sits just behind Mule Alley and the existing Hotel Drover.

The project will bring two independently positioned hotels totaling 225 rooms. Both properties will share a subterranean parking garage. Construction is expected to break ground in fall 2027, with an opening targeted for spring 2030.

Scale and Setting of the Fort Worth Stockyards Luxury Hotel

The development sits on more than three acres. It extends along over 1,000 feet of Marine Creek frontage. Plans include roughly 30,000 square feet of open greenspace and entertainment area. A new Marine Creek Promenade will connect guests directly to Mule Alley and the low water crossing at Lonesome Dove.

Meeting and event space plays a major role in the design. The project includes about 18,000 square feet of meeting space. That total covers a 7,500 square foot grand ballroom and a 4,000 square foot event barn and lawn. A resort style pool with cabanas will overlook Marine Creek, alongside a rooftop restaurant and bar.

Why the Fort Worth Stockyards Hotel Development Matters Here

The Stockyards National Historic District has become one of Texas's most visited destinations. Woodbine Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer Dupree Scovell called the site's location iconic, noting it sits at the gateway to a district that draws more than 10 million visitors a year. That single figure explains much of the investor interest converging on this corner of Fort Worth.

Design direction differs between the two planned hotels. The larger luxury hotel will draw on native materials, textiles, and found objects rooted in western history. Its neighboring boutique hotel will operate at a smaller, more intimate scale with a more bespoke operational focus.

The Team Behind the $160 Million Hotel and Resort

Delightful Development is led by Craig Cavileer, who previously headed the Stockyards Heritage Development Company behind Hotel Drover and Mule Alley. Cavileer departed that company last year amid an ongoing legal dispute now playing out in a Los Angeles court. Majestic Realty, his former partner, is seeking nearly $76 million in unpaid loans, while Cavileer has countersued over financing terms tied to earlier Stockyards projects.

Woodbine Development brings its own Fort Worth track record to the partnership. The company previously developed a six story, 180,000 square foot Class A office building in the city's Clearfork district. The new resort marks Woodbine's first hospitality project within the Stockyards itself.

A Public Private Partnership Behind the Fort Worth Luxury Hotel

The project moves forward as a public private partnership involving Delightful Development, Woodbine, and the city of Fort Worth. The board overseeing the tax increment reinvestment zone for the Northside and Stockyards approved a development agreement with the team during its August 5 meeting. That approval gives the project a financing framework tied directly to the district's ongoing growth.

The announcement arrived on the same day Cavileer's former employer confirmed it would not pursue a separate $1 billion expansion once planned for the district. One major Stockyards vision paused just as another moved into motion, underscoring how unsettled the district's next phase of growth remains.

What the Fort Worth Stockyards Resort Signals for Hospitality Investment

Large scale hotel investment near historic districts has become a recurring pattern nationally. Buyers and developers continue targeting locations with built in visitor demand rather than untested markets. Coverage of the recent Embassy Suites Philadelphia Airport ownership change reflects a similar logic, where investors favor properties with proven traffic and clear renovation upside over ground up risk elsewhere.

Fort Worth's Stockyards now carries both stories at once. A billion dollar expansion has stalled, while a $160 million resort moves toward groundbreaking two blocks away. What eventually rises at Main and 23rd Street will say as much about the district's next chapter as any single announcement can.

Learn more at Fort Worth Stockyards' official website.