Within the confines of Fort Worth’s most popular attraction — the city-defining Historic Stockyards — there’s a small, invisible fight going on. It’s not the sort of fight that results in any verbal or physical blows — no fisticuffs or spats — but, rather, it’s a tug of war between tradition and progress. Between preservation and development. And the stubbornness of both sides has led to change that’s harnessed the city’s authentic heritage and is bringing longtime tradition back to life.
Exhibit one, when it comes to the creation of a unique tourist attraction steeped in a city’s culture and history, the Stockyards offers the kind of dining and retail experience that makes other cities drool while maintaining the allure of the Cowtown aesthetic. Offering 35 shops, 17 attractions, 14 restaurants, and 13 bars — all of which are accompanied by a Western atmosphere — the Stockyards attracts 10 million visitors from around the world each year.
Noted as the last stop on the Chisholm Trail, during the 19th century, drovers trailed more than 4 million cattle through Fort Worth. In the mid-1870s, a railroad was laid and a station built on the edge of where today’s Stockyards sit. Founded then as the Union Stockyards, the small rustic quarters became known around the globe as a major shipping point for livestock.
Fast-forward a century, and agriculture — once a booming industry — lost its prideful success, and the Stockyards reached an all-time low in its supply
and sales. Despite the economic loss, the now-historic attraction central to the large urban city has continued to prosper.
Weathering many large storms — with grand tornadoes, major floods, and significant drought seasons — the people of Fort Worth have refused to let the originality of the Stockyards die.
What's coming to the new Stockyards:
Spring/Summer:
retail: Wrangler, King Ranch, Buckaroo Banana, Lucchese Bootmaker Store, Stetson’s
winery: Cowtown Winery
brewery: Jason Boso’s
dining: The Biscuit Bar
Fall:
retail: Lucchese Collection Store, Little White Lies
dining: 97 West Kitchen and Bar, Deputy Doggie
lodging: Hotel Drover
Recent Development
After years of discussion about improving and remodeling some vacant and unused facilities around the Fort Worth historic Stockyards, the Stockyards Heritage Development Co. — a partnership between the Fort Worth-based Hickman Cos. and California-based Majestic Realty Co. — unveiled a $175 million master plan for the development in August 2018.
The plan included a myriad of restaurants, eateries, entertainment venues, retail shops, heritage brands and creative workspaces for patrons to enjoy — all specially picked to reflect the original character that was intended for the historic Stockyards.
The brand-new Mule Alley, once a large parking lot in between two empty mule barns, has begun its transformation into a center similar to the popular Stockyards Stations — and it will soon be filled with local eateries, retail shops, and entertainment venues.
Craig Cavileer of Majestic Realty Co. says the two mule barns located on the sidewalks on Exchange Avenue, which account for approximately 180,000 square foot of space, have been vacant for more than 30 years — but no one really ever notices them when they walk by.
Some walls have begun to crumble, some roofs have begun to cave in, and some of the floors have begun to turn into dust.
Despite initial negative feedback from residents, Cavileer says he and those involved truly believe redevelopment is the ideal route that will best preserve the history of the Stockyards.
Because of the conditions inside some of the facilities, the residents would have had to see changes within the Stockyards either way, he says. It could be due to the efforts to restore the area or due to “demolition by neglect,” as Cavileer says Mayor Betsy Price has described the situation to be.
With recent shell construction completed on the mule barns, Jessica Miller with M2G Ventures says developers and Stockyards officials have approached the project with “one foot in the past and one foot in the future.”
From hand-laying 500,000 bricks as an effort to have more handicap- and family-friendly sidewalks to restoring some of the windows back to their original condition and from rewiring the original lamp posts that sit on the side of the street to using old cattle troughs as benches and flower beds, she says developers and builders have truly done everything by the book to preserve the Stockyards’ history.
“They’ve really done everything plus some that we could be proud of in terms of historic renovation,” Miller says.
To complement the efforts of the architectural efforts, Miller says they have collected an innovative portfolio of businesses, artisans, and entrepreneurs which perfectly represent Texas, American, and Western heritage.
From now through the opening of its Autograph Collection hotel, Hotel Drover, in October, Miller says the Stockyards will continue to see more and more businesses trickle in — though some began their new venture earlier than others.
The first Mule Alley tenant, Shake Shack, is a popular restaurant group that began as a hotdog cart in New York’s Madison Square Park. The now-chain restaurant with more than 100 locations in the U.S. was welcomed to the Stockyards in January as Fort Worth’s first location.
The second restaurant in the redeveloped mule barns, Provender Hall — which is owned by chef Marcus Paslay, who owns Fort Worth’s Clay Pigeon and Piattello Italian Kitchen — hosted its soft opening in March.
Miller says the Texas brasserie-styled eatery will serve a large collection of dishes loved across Texas. This varies from oysters on the half shell and chicken gumbo to buffalo tenderloin and tomahawk steak.
“It’s all the Texas favorites in one place,” Miller says. “[Paslay] really built a beautiful restaurant inside a really historic barn that feels like the two were meant to be together. He took all the original embellishments and made them part of the fabric of this new restaurant that we are going to enjoy.”
MB Mercantile & Supply has also joined the innovative lineup of the Stockyards’ new tenants. The new concept, which developers sought after but realized did not exist, is similar to an old-fashioned general store with carefully curated and handmade goods.
The store will have thousands of rustic, vintage, and Western souvenirs and collectibles for locals and tourists to enjoy.
“Think of Chip and Joanna Gaines meets Anthropologie meets the Stockyards,” Miller says of the store.
She added that many companies and corporations have also chosen to bring their headquarters to Mule Alley.
The American Paint Horse Association — the world’s second-largest international equine breeder association — relocated its headquarters from Meacham Boulevard to a new space in the Stockyards and even brought its beloved horse statue, which now sits in the middle of the street. With hundreds of members surrounding, the association hosted its grand opening in February.
The Fort Worth-based Simpli.fi also moved its headquarters into 78,764 square feet of space on Mule Alley, bringing more than 450 employees to the new office spaces.
RFD HQ and STUDIOS — which manages RFD-TV, the Cowboy Channel and Rural Media Group — has also joined the ongoing redevelopment in the Stockyards, occupying a free-standing building on Exchange Avenue. The company will also create a brand-new broadcast studio in the historic Auction Barn adjacent to the Livestock Exchange Building.
The stations have focus on rural living, western sports and entertainment and the cowboy and cowgirl lifestyle.
Upcoming Development
Though many new tenants have already been brought into the Stockyards, development will remain going for years to come.
Hotel Drover, inspired by the pioneer drovers that Fort Worth’s success was founded on, has served as the spotlight of the development.
Delivering Texas hospitality to all guests who mosey on through, Hotel Drover will open in October with 200 rooms and suites; a signature chef-driven restaurant; two retail shops; 40,000 square feet of meeting space; and an event barn for rustic-luxe meetings and weddings.
Its 97 West Kitchen and Bar will be led by award-winning executive chef Jenna Kinard, who will reimagine classic Texas-style cuisines and serve them with a twist.
The sample menu includes bourbon-glazed cauliflower — topped with mustard crème, toasted pistachios, and citrus segments — the 97 West Burger — a half-pork-belly and half-beef patty garnished with gorgonzola, house butter pickles, lettuce, and an egg — and apple-brined double-bone pork chop with caramelized onion and apple gravy.
Kinard will also serve innovative Texas-style hot dogs at Deputy Doggie — a food establishment, based out of a horse trailer.
Hotel Drover will also be home to Little White Lies — an artisan shop with jewelry, bags, and home goods — and one of the two new Lucchese stores that the Stockyards will bring in.
“We’ve been able to collect and partner with some of the best American heritage brands that you could find,” Miller says.
Hotel Drover’s Lucchese Collection store is a one-of-a-kind store only selling custom-fit apparel and made-to-order boots. It will be the only Lucchese store in the world with no inventory on site.
The Lucchese Bootmaker store, which will be located on the corner of Mule Alley and Exchange Avenue, will be a traditional Lucchese store with high-end boots and fashion.
The new Stockyards development will also boast the only Stetson store in the world, primarily selling Stetson products, but will offer other unique, hard-to-find products as well. Miller says the store is currently under construction.
Wrangler and King Ranch will also join the list of American heritage brands that can be found in the updated Stockyards.
The Biscuit Bar is currently the only restaurant on the list of tenants that has not yet opened. Found across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the Stockyards will welcome the restaurant as Fort Worth’s first and only location.
Focused on Southern cuisine, the restaurant — which has the motto “everything is better with a biscuit” — primarily serves food on biscuits. This includes the traditional sausage biscuit, biscuit and sausage gravy, and bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. But it also includes the El Jefe — a biscuit with slow-roasted pulled pork, sliced smoked ham, pickles, Monterey Jack cheese, and Dijon aioli — and the Rough Night — a biscuit with Southern-fried chicken, a burger patty, ham, turkey, pulled pork, crispy bacon, tots, cheddar and housemade sausage gravy.
Other tenants that are currently planned for Mule Alley include Buckaroo Banana, Jason Boso’s Second Rodeo Brewing Co. — which will be in a 14,740-square-foot venue — Cowtown Winery, and Sidesaddle Saloon.
Founded by the owners of Fort Worth’s local-favorite Taco Heads, Sidesaddle Saloon will pay homage to the American cowgirl. The shotgun-style high-end cocktail bar will serve curated cocktails and Texas-style tapas in a saloon setting.
“We have some really unique things coming into the project,” Miller says. “People from across the world will see this really unique collection and will be able to dine and walk around. It’s something uniquely Fort Worth in our own backyard.”
In addition to bringing in new restaurants, offices, and stores, there will also be some minor developmental changes made, which includes hand-laying original bricks to repair the northern sidewalk of Exchange Avenue and removing the railing from the open space that surrounds the Livestock Exchange building.
Cavileer says a lot of visitors feel like they are restricted from the property with the railing and won’t step beyond it when it isn’t intended to be a restriction. He says he wants to open up the space for all to enjoy.
“This is really just the first phase, and there will be additional phases designed to enhance what you see in the Stockyards today that will be rolled out in the next few years,” Miller says.
Though there have been no plans unveiled with future development, Cavileer says there is discussion about renovating and remodeling the Cowtown Coliseum.
Impact of the Development
When the development began its initial process, many residents protested the effort. Cavileer says many have since visited the Stockyards and changed their minds, because they have learned that nothing is being torn down or ruined.
Even had things been fully demolished, Cavileer says the development group would have had no way to ruin the Stockyards, because they only own six of the 96 buildings there. Nonetheless, that’s not what’s happening, he says.
Without the redevelopment, a lot of the facilities could have vanished within the next 30 years, but it was the redevelopment that led to worn-down roofs being replaced and old windows being repaired, which otherwise would have fallen apart with time, he says.
Jerre Tracy, executive director of Historic Fort Worth, says she believes it’s case by case if the renovations will have a positive or negative impact on Fort Worth history.
She says there are many economic benefits for historic buildings that are in the National Register Historic District like many of those in the Stockyards, so she hopes the construction standards were met.
These benefits include a 25% reimbursement on restoration construction expenses, and depending on the usage and size, the same building could qualify for another 20% from the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit.
However, buildings in the National Register Historic District do not receive protection from demolition unless they are locally designated. Because of this, Historic Fort Worth’s major role was to protect it with local historic designation as a safeguard for the future of the historic buildings.
She says the organization raised $10,000 to hire an architectural historian to survey each building in the Stockyards as the basis for a local historic district, but the council reduced it in size.
“The survey area was large because there are so many worthy buildings in our Stockyards,” Tracy says.
Because she isn’t certain on which employees have taken advantage of the financial incentives — which would require them follow special protocol for historic preservation — she doesn’t have an overall opinion of the development.
Miller and Cavileer say they believe, overall, that most visitors — old and new — will be comfortable with the changes made because the developers and builders have put in an honest effort to preserve the history at the Stockyards.
In some respects, developers are restoring the community back into its original shape as opposed to the most recent facilities, which have received partial renovations, here and there, since the Stockyards were formed.
Aside from historic preservation and a boost in the economy that the new tenants will bring, she says she believes the Stockyards will also be a more family-friendly area. With new restaurants and retail shops, young children who can’t go into bars will be still be able to enjoy a large region within the Stockyards.
She says she also believes it will benefit the existing tenants in the Stockyards.
“I think a rising tide lifts all boats,” Miller says. “What the Stockyards has historically been known for will always be what it is known for. This project will just bring something uniquely different to the Stockyards, but it will feel like it fits seamlessly in the DNA that has been there. Everybody that has been in the Stockyards for decades will be able to benefit from people coming to appreciate what their craft is or what their restaurant is or why they came to the Stockyards in the first place.
“Any of the places that you already know and love in the Stockyards — those are just going to be given another round of love and attention and brand recognition. This project will just help put the cherry on top for those people, too. We’re excited to see the success of the Stockyards — not only where it has been but also where it is going.”
