According to TEXAS HIGHWAYS, the “maverick” was invented in Texas, described thus: “They viewed life in the Lone Star State as a vast stage for reinvention of the self, where any notion, no matter how fanciful, could become reality.” To be
in Texas is to have a powerful sense of place, dynamic even when standing still. Texas, says Phillip Jones, president of the Dallas CVB, “reinvents itself to stay relevant.”
The following is a regional roundup of some of the major reinventions across the state.
North Texas Metroplex
There’s plenty happening in the sprawling Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, starting with “Big D.”
Destined to rival New York’s Lincoln Center, the stunning $338 million multivenue Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is slated to open 2009.
Newly renovated meetings-capable hotels include the boutique 170-room Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa and the 1,606-room Hilton Anatole, while new arrivals include the 231-room Hilton Bella Harbor, which is located about 20 miles from downtown Dallas on scenic Lake Ray Hubbard and features 16 meeting rooms.
On the horizon, luxury hotelier Mandarin Oriental makes its Southwest debut in 2009 with a 154-room property in Dallas’ Victory Park, while final negotiations are under way for a 1,200-room headquarters hotel connected to the Dallas Convention Center. Norman Foster has been selected as the architect of the property.
A convention center headquarters hotel is also coming to Fort Worth. Opening across from the expanded Fort Worth Convention Center in early 2009, the fashionable 607-room Fort Worth Omni will have 48,000 square feet of meeting space and 97 upper-floor condos.
Other new hotels include the 102-room Hyatt Place Fort Worth Historic Stockyards, which opened in January.
Irving is also unveiling impressive developments. The city is slated to receive a new 275,000-square-foot convention center in 2010 to serve the growing midweek meetings market in the business-centric Las Colinas district. Already completed as part of The Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas’ $50 million expansion and renovation are the redesigned TPC Four Seasons golf course and remodeled lobby; in early 2009, the property will unveil 34 new villa suites and updated tower rooms. Irving will also be home to the Texas debuts of Starwood’s aloft and element (by Westin) luxury brands, with the 136-room aloft Las Colinas and the 123-room element Irving opening in late 2008.
In “Fun City” Arlington, the 80,000-seat Dallas Cowboys stadium is under construction and will reportedly have an event capacity of 120,000 people. With the Super Bowl coming in 2011, planned hotels include a 175-room aloft and a 300-room Westin.
A planned expansion will transform the 1,511-room Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine into the state’s largest hotel, adding 500 rooms and 200,000 square feet of meeting space. The target completion date is 2011, in time for the Super Bowl in nearby Arlington. Slated for final-phase completion in late 2008, Grapevine also features a new property from North America’s leading indoor waterpark group, Great Wolf Resorts. In addition to a 98,000-square-foot entertainment and water area, the 605-suite Great Wolf Lodge will feature several restaurants and 27,000 square feet of function space.
Following a new 117-room Homewood Suites, Frisco is seeing an influx of new meetings-capable hotels. Comfort Suites just debuted a 109-suite property across from Pizza Hut Park, the 20,000-seat home to Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas; a 102-room Hilton Garden Inn will arrive this fall; and the 136-room aloft Frisco will open in February 2009. Meanwhile, the Museum of the American Railroad will relocate to Frisco from Dallas within the next year.
In addition to a new 112-room Staybridge Suites and a 127-room Hyatt Place, Plano is going the contemporary lifestyle route with the sleek new 176-room NYLO Plano at Legacy. Also planned are a 240-room Doubletree and a 276-room Renaissance, and Starwood’s aloft infusion of the Metroplex continues with a planned 136-room Plano property.
Farther south, the Waco Convention Center is scheduled to begin a $17.5 million makeover this fall.
Houston Area
Reflecting the cosmopolitan shine of over $5 billion in investments over the past nine years, downtown Houston’s dynamic business, entertainment and leisure mix continues to grow.
In April, the city unveiled Discovery Green downtown park, a 12-acre urban oasis within easy reach of the recently expanded George R. Brown Convention Center.
This fall, visitors and conventioneers will have even more at-leisure options with the opening of the $170 million Houston Pavilions, four city blocks of offices, entertainment, retail and walkable cityscapes.
With numerous meetings-ready hotels like the 1,200-room Hilton Americas–Houston, the city’s room inventory will expand even further with announced plans for a new downtown Omni opening by 2010.
Meanwhile, the 960-room Hyatt Regency plans to finish a $35 million makeover this fall, including new high-tech meeting space.
Just north of Houston, The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center is undergoing a $50 million, multiphase expansion. Slated for completion in late 2009, the transformation project includes 158 new guest rooms, a winding river and a fine-dining steakhouse.
In Lake Conroe, the former Del Lago Waterfront Conference Center and Resort will reopen in October as La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa, featuring 445 suites, 70,000 square feet of meeting space, an 18-hole golf course and a spa.
San Antonio
Newly opened on the San Antonio River Walk is the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, adjacent to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. A giant among hotels, the property features 1,003 rooms and more than 115,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space.
The River Walk itself is getting bigger. Currently three miles long, it will be extended to 13 miles by 2012, running north into the museum district and south into the mission district.
Slated for a 2010 debut, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa will offer two championship golf courses, a 26,000-square-foot spa, more than 1,000 luxurious rooms and suites, and over 140,000 square feet of meeting space.
Formerly the San Antonio Learning Center, the San Antonio Multimedia Center is a state-of-the-art, nationally recognized meeting and training venue.
In nearby San Marcos, the 283-room Embassy Suites Hotel, Spa and Conference Center will open this fall, offering a day spa and 78,800 square feet of conference space.
Austin
May saw the opening of Austin’s much-anticipated Long Center for the Performing Arts. Taking center stage in a 54-acre cultural park on the shores of Lady Bird Lake, the multipurpose center’s curving, colonnaded outdoor event and performance space is dramatically backed by the Austin skyline.
Another recent Austin debut was the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center at the University of Texas. Featuring 297 stylish guest rooms and multiple meeting rooms, the IACC-approved center is wired for the future, featuring unprecedented technology and connectivity capabilities.
With a 300-room Westin scheduled to open in the popular Warehouse District in mid-2009, other announced properties include the 21C Museum Hotel, Block 21/W Hotel and Hotel Van Zandt from Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, all of which are pending approvals.
Texas Gulf Coast
Set on 242 tropical acres, the Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa and Convention Center in Galveston has plenty going for it, including 428 luxurious rooms, more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space and even glass-enclosed pyramids containing a living rainforest and an aquarium. Golf is now another highlight of the property, via a $16 million renovation of the former Galveston Municipal Golf Course. Managed by the hotel but operated by the city, the scenic public course comes complete with event and banquet facilities.
Farther north, Beaumont, home to the multipurpose, 221-acre Ford Park Event Center, has a new green attraction in the LEED-certified Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center.
South Texas
Opened in 2007, the 175,000-square-foot McAllen Convention Center is the Rio Grande Valley’s largest single meeting facility. Fronted by a reflecting pool, the facility will host 14 state conventions in 2009. With 3,000 rooms already within two miles of the center, new properties from Embassy Suites, La Quinta and Holiday Inn are planned; conventioneers also have a golf course and retail, dining and entertainment offerings close by.
Central and West Texas
El Paso recently opened the 154-room El Paso Hilton Garden Inn and the 112-room Hyatt Place El Paso Airport, which will be followed this fall by the 210-room Doubletree El Paso Downtown City Center. The city’s Downtown Museum Cultural District also welcomed the El Paso Museum of History and the El Paso Holocaust Museum & Study Center, one of only 12 museums in the U.S. dedicated to the Holocaust.
Farther north in the Panhandle Plains, Amarillo’s downtown revitalization moved forward with the mid-2008 announcement of financing for a 108-room Courtyard by Marriott targeting business travelers.
Lubbock is also unveiling new properties; the 304-room Overton Hotel and Conference Center, with 47,600 square feet of meeting and event space, is scheduled to open in 2009.
