Houston Street Reopened in 2024. Its Anchor Building Returns in November.

The Fort Worth Business Journal reported that when a gas explosion tore through the bottom two floors of the W.T. Waggoner Building on January 8, 2024, the tatami table in Musume's private dining room was still set afterward. That room is the former bank's historic steel vault, and the plates had not moved.

Nearly three years later, the vault is still owner Josh Babb's favorite room. According to the same report, it will look much as it did before when Musume reopens on Sunday, November 15, at 810 Houston St. The Sandman Signature Hotel upstairs, closed since the blast, plans to welcome guests again this November. Most of the businesses around the building have been open for more than two years. This November, the building at the center of the block opens too, and its first weeks overlap with the busiest stretch of downtown's calendar.

From Opening Day to Reopening Day

The timeline explains why this reopening matters more than a typical restaurant opening:

1. July 2023. Northland Properties announced the opening of the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown, with 245 rooms, a lobby bar and Musume as the on-site restaurant.
2. January 8, 2024. The explosion hit the building's lower floors. Musume had been open just six months.
3. January 2024. The Fort Worth Report listed 11 nearby businesses temporarily closed by the street barricades.
4. July 25, 2024. Downtown businesses held an 8th Street reopening event, about six and a half months after the blast.
5. January 2025. KERA described the hotel's restoration scope: doors, windows, structural slabs, interior walls, stairs, and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
6. November 2026. Musume returns on November 15, and the hotel plans to reopen sometime this month. No specific hotel date has been announced.

The street came back in about six and a half months. The building took almost three years. Neighbors on 8th and Houston have spent more than two years open for business next to a sealed-off landmark, and November is the first month since January 2024 that the whole block is scheduled to be open.

Investigators linked the explosion to natural gas early on. WFAA's two-year update reported that the exact cause had not been publicly finalized, and that Atmos said its pipeline system was not involved.

The Neighbors Came Back First

The 11 businesses the Fort Worth Report listed behind the barricades were J's Burgers n' More, Barber's Bookstore, Thompson's Bookstore, La'Creamian, The Winchester Tavern, Basic Bar, The Archibald, Al Dente Italian Trattoria, FedEx, Peters Brothers Hats and PlainsCapital Bank.

By the July 2024 street reopening, the businesses taking part included The Archibald, Barber's Bookstore, Basic Bar, Cowtown Segway Adventures, David Dalton's Salon, La'Creamian and Thompson's Bookstore, according to the Fort Worth Report's coverage of the event. Basic Bar still lists 904 Houston St. and posts its hours, so it remains one of the steadiest addresses facing the Waggoner.

For more than two years, then, the shops, bars and bookstores on this block have been open next to their largest neighbor, which wasn't. Musume and a 245-room hotel returning to the same footprint add the kind of evening and overnight foot traffic the block had in late 2023, and have not had since.

What Musume Rebuilt, and What It Kept

The Business Journal puts the rebuild at nearly $4 million, funded through a joint venture between Babb's Rock Libations Group and Sandman owner Northland Properties. The 5,000-square-foot space has warm woods, Japanese-inspired murals and Italian marble walls. Extra lounge seating brings capacity to nearly 200.

Some things are gone. The old teller windows didn't survive the blast. Babb told the Business Journal the structural changes let the team build a room more in line with the other Musume locations in DFW. The menu keeps staples like the miso black cod, which is marinated for 72 hours. The drinks list carries nearly 100 sakes and more than 60 Japanese whiskeys.

The staff is the most unusual detail. Musume Fort Worth will employ roughly 50 people, and the Business Journal reports that more than 90% of the original Fort Worth staff are returning, including original general manager Sammi Shafto. Regulars from the first six months will likely see familiar faces on the floor.

Babb told the Fort Worth Business Journal that coming back wasn't automatic. Some team members urged him not to return, and others wanted a different concept. He kept the same restaurant in the same city:

"Before we had left, we tried to participate in anything and everything that we could in Fort Worth to be a part of the community. The kind of support we got there ... that's a rare thing. But that's just kind of how Fort Worth is."

Across the Street and a Few Blocks Out

Musume doesn't reopen in isolation. Several downtown projects within a short walk have been working toward fall openings, and the dates have moved around. Here is where each one stood at its latest public update:

Beverly's is the one to watch because it sits across Houston Street from the Waggoner. Jeff Payne and Jason Cross are building an ingredient-driven modern Mexican restaurant in the Hogan Building's basement. In July, PaperCity put its opening in August. Fort Worth Founded's September update listed the date as pending, with fall 2026 still expected.

Station & Vine comes from Chef Douglas Brown's Edible Ideas Inc. Chef Oscar Aponte runs the kitchen, and Matthew Barrington built the cocktail program, according to PaperCity's July profile. Its target has moved from August to "coming weeks" to the "Opening Fall 2026" now on its own site.

Almacén El Gallo is the one already open. Resy reports that Adrian Burciaga and Martin Quirarte opened it on July 27, with Chef Rodrigo Rivera-Río shaping a contemporary Mexican menu.

Of everything on that list, Musume has the only fixed date. Beverly's and Station & Vine are still working within a season.

Two Sundays and a Thursday

The Waggoner's return lands right before two of downtown's big November events. Musume's November 15 date opens the run.

One week later, on Sunday, November 22, at 6 p.m., the GM Financial Parade of Lights steps off. Visit Fort Worth lists it as running 6 to 8 p.m. on a 1.59-mile downtown route starting at Weatherford and Throckmorton streets. Last year, according to Downtown Fort Worth Inc., the route turned west on 9th to Houston, then ran north on Houston to 2nd. That took it right past the Waggoner Building. The 2026 parade listing from DFWI confirms the start point. The street-by-street route for this year will come from DFWI closer to the date, and anyone with a Musume reservation that evening should check it.

On Thursday, November 26, the 45th annual Fort Worth YMCA Turkey Trot starts at General Worth Square, 916 Main St., a short walk from the 800 block of Houston. The 1K goes off at 7:45 a.m., and the 5K and 8K start at 8:30 a.m., per DFWI.

Those dates put a reopened restaurant, a hotel expected to reopen sometime in November, an evening parade that ran up Houston Street last year, and a Thanksgiving race on Main Street all within twelve days. The block that cleared its barricades in July 2024 hasn't had a run of dates like this since the explosion.

For downtown homeowners and condo owners, the Waggoner's return adds a fully open block with a working hotel to the neighborhood around them, and that can show up in how buyers see the area. If you're curious how this stretch of downtown is affecting your home's value, Integrity Plus RE can walk you through it. Start with our Instant Home Valuation, and we'll follow up with what we're seeing on the blocks around Houston Street.