A new developer has recently come forward to propose spending about $100 million to renovate the long-closed Herring Hotel in downtown Amarillo and convert it into a boutique hotel.
Todd Harmon, a developer with Herring Hotel Partners, and John Campo, founder of Campo Architecture, presented their plan during a recent Amarillo City Council meeting, reported KAMR-TV.
The proposal calls for a four-and-a-half-star hotel featuring 226 guest rooms, two restaurants, a pool deck, and a rooftop bar with views of the downtown. Plans also include restoring the hotel’s original Tascosa room, which was once a popular gathering space in Amarillo’s early years. […]
Developers said the project could create around 100 full-time jobs and attract both business and leisure travelers with projected room rates averaging $225 per night. […]
City officials are reviewing a performance-based incentive request, which means public funding would only be issued after the project is completed. Officials note demolishing the building could cost up to $5 million, making restoration a more valuable option.
Herring Hotel Development Company LLC purchased the nearly century-old building in 2021, but filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last spring and paused the project.
Oilman, banker and rancher Cornelius Taylor Herring built the 14-story, 600-room hotel in 1926 — the same year U.S. 66 came into existence.
The hotel was briefly converted into office space in the early 1970s before it closed. The Herring was listed on Preservation Texas’ Most Endangered Places in 2006.
The Herring Hotel stands at 311 Southeast Third Ave. between the northbound and southbound lanes of Business Route 66, before Route 66 turns west onto Sixth Avenue.
UPDATE 10/30/2025: The city council approved the economic development agreement for the hotel.
(Image of the Herring Hotel in 2015 by Barbara Brannon via Flickr)