Sandman Signature Hotel has opened in historic 20-story tower in downtown Fort Worth

The Sandman Signature Hotel has opened for business in a historic downtown Fort Worth high rise.

The premium hotel opened March 31 in the Waggoner Building, built in 1920 at 810 Houston St.

The lobby bar will open in about two weeks, while the Asian fusion restaurant Musume in the hotel’s basement level is expected to open in June or July.

The construction on the 20-story, 245-room hotel preserved and restored the interior finishes of the tower, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This is the second Sandman Signature Hotel in the United States; the first was built in 2018 in Plano. The brand is part of Vancouver-based Northland Properties, which is Canada’s largest privately owned hospitality company with hotels and resorts across Canada and, more recently, in the U.K.

The company’s president, Tom Gaglardi, has owned the NHL Dallas Stars hockey club since 2011. He also owns the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

The Fort Worth hotel’s reservation web page lists rooms starting at $160 and going up to more than $400 per night depending on the size of the room and availability on certain dates.

The 20-story Waggoner Building was one of the tallest in the Southwest in the 1920s. The skyscraper’s namesake was William Thomas Waggoner, a wealthy rancher and oilman born in 1852. He moved to Fort Worth around 1904, was a director of the First National Bank and built two office buildings, according to the Texas State Historical Association. He also built the Arlington Downs Racetrack and was a donor for three buildings at Texas Woman’s College at Denton before he died in 1934.

In contrast, the Sandman Signature Hotel in Plano was new construction with 233 rooms. Its on-site dining options are the casual Canadian chain Moxies and sports lounge Shark Club Sports Bar & Grill, both brands that are part of Northland Properties.

The company also has a Canadian steakhouse in its portfolio called Chop, and the award-winning Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Vancouver, whose Chef Alex Chen was the “Iron Chef” champion in 2019.