Taylor Sheridan’s SGS group acquired the Isis Theater in Fort Worth. Here’s everything you need to know about the deal.
Taylor Sheridan’s meteoric rise continues to be good for business in the Lone Star State. The writer and creator of shows like “Yellowstone,” “Landman,” “Frisco King,” and “Lioness” frequently uses Texas as a backdrop for his star-studded projects, creating job opportunities and drumming up excitement in the process.
But the positive impact he has on the local economy has been growing steadily in another way, too—his investment company has acquired several properties around the state in an effort to restore them to their former glory. The group simply goes by SGS and includes Sheridan, producer Dan Schryer, and David Glasser, the CEO of 101 Studios.
Their latest acquisition is the Downtown Cowtown at the Isis, AKA the Isis Theater, located at 2401 N. Main Street in Fort Worth. It was closed in 2023 when its previous owner defaulted roughly $5.3 million in delinquent taxes and loans. Since then it has sat empty in the Stockyards, just waiting for someone like Sheridan to remember its worth.
Glasser told the Fort Worth Report that SGS plans to transform the Isis into a supper club reminiscent of the 1920s. Typically, supper clubs are places where you can enjoy dinner, entertainment, and a sense of community all at the same time. Construction is expected to begin soon, but an exact timeline as for when the renovated space will be open for business has not been determined yet.
Glasser said, “We’re not rushing any of the projects that we have. Our goal is to get it right and to make sure everybody’s happy with it.” He said the group wants to “preserve and restore” the interior and exterior of the building to help it feel the way it did when it originally opened. Fort Worth’s Mayor, Mattie Parker, said the project is “especially exciting,” and feels grateful for SGS’s interest.
“The Downtown Cowtown at the Isis Theater has a long, rich history in our city, and it’s an incredibly nostalgic place for many of our residents and visitors,” Mayor Parker commented. She’s hopeful the new space will bring a freshness to the Stockyards while still maintaining its existing charm, which seems to be the group’s key plan.
Sheridan’s group wants to preserve the Isis’s legacy
When the Isis Theater was originally constructed in 1913, it served as one of the first places in Fort Worth to show movies. Its Victorian style interior was, unfortunately, destroyed during a fire in 1935 and revitalized into an art deco styled space the following year, under the name the New Isis Theater. Over the decades the building changed hands several times, frequently closing and reopening amid those changes.
Then, in 2021, it was purchased and renovated by Debbie Garrett-Smith and Jeffrey Smith and reopened under the name the Downtown Cowtown at the Isis. Jeffery said at the time, “It hurt my heart to see it was just sitting there and nobody was taking care of it. It needed to be loved. It needed to be nurtured. It needed to be brought back for people to see this building.”
It closed roughly two years later due to financial troubles, but thankfully, Taylor Sheridan, David Glasser, and Dan Schryer were moved in a similar way to the Smiths and were driven to bring the space back to life. The only thing that remains unclear, in addition to the project’s timeline for completion, is whether the 500 theater seats will be removed to accommodate for the group’s supper club plans.
When asked about it directly, Glasser said their goal is to renovate the space to look like something “you would have seen back in that era,” but didn’t divulge specifics. He did add, “When we’re done, it will be something pretty special.” Fort Worth residents now wait on bated breath to see exactly how special it will be.
