Greater Houston
Houston
By the end of 2016, downtown Houston will gain some 3,000 new rooms, courtesy of eight new hotels, including the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis Houston. Attached to the George R. Brown Convention Center as the district’s second convention headquarters hotel, the property, offering more than 104,000 square feet of meeting space and Houston’s largest ballroom, is expected to open in late 2016.
Green space developments include the $58 million restoration of Buffalo Bayou Park. Expected to wrap this fall, the 160-acre project includes the Sunset Coffee Building. Located on Allen’s Landing, site of Houston’s founding, the venue will offer canoe, kayak and bicycle rentals along with event space.
The Woodlands
Completed in late 2014, the all-encompassing $75 million-plus redevelopment of The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center includes 222 refreshed rooms and suites, a new 184-room guest wing, a fully revitalized 60,000-square-foot conference center, a 156-seat steakhouse and a 1,005-foot lazy river.
Metroplex
Dallas
The hospitality scene keeps expanding in the “Big D.” Presently offering 75,000-plus rooms, inventory is expected to grow by 2,500 rooms in the next three years via $1.72 billion in new hotel development. Half of the 16 projects in the works are downtown, including the revival of the landmark Statler Hilton. Set to reopen next fall as the Hilton-flagged Statler Hotel and Residences, the project will include 161 hotel rooms, meeting space and four restaurants.
Slated to open by the end of 2015, the new 323-room Westin Dallas Downtown will include 27,000 square feet of meeting space, plus a new restaurant and bar space.
Opened in 2011, the 1001-room Omni Dallas headquarters hotel just completed new outdoor space as it also finishes four restaurants outside the hotel.
Fort Worth
Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in January 2017 on a new 14,000-seat multipurpose arena in the Fort Worth Cultural District. Slated to open in December 2019, the new facility will be supported by a 250-room Westin hotel, itself targeting a December 2018 debut.
In July, details of the proposed $175 million redevelopment of the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District were revealed. The master plan includes transforming the neglected historic Mule Barns into 180,000 square feet of restaurant, shopping and office space; adding outdoor festival and event areas; and upgrading Stockyards Station.
Irving
Ranked 37th on Cvent’s 2014 list of Top 50 Meetings Destinations in the U.S., Irving announced plans for a full-service, upscale convention center hotel. Slated to break ground in 2016, the hotel will include approximately 350 guest rooms and more than 16,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space.
Early next year also sees the anticipated opening of the $165 million Irving Music Factory. Located adjacent to the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas (www.irvingconventioncenter.com), the DART-accessible entertainment complex will include an eight-screen Alamo Drafthouse cinema, 8,000-seat concert venue, 50,000-square-foot outdoor event plaza and multiple dining and nightlife concepts.
This July, the Texas Musicians Museum and its Music Garden debuted in downtown Irving.
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Frisco
Targeting completion by fall 2016, The Star will be the new $115 million Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters & Training Facility. The 91-acre project includes a 12,000-seat multiuse event center with 112,000 square feet of floor space, a 301-room Omni hotel and retail and dining concepts.
The new 132-room Hyatt House Frisco is slated to open soon across from the Frisco Conference Center.
Grapevine
Hilton DFW Lakes & Executive Conference Center recently converted its indoor tennis facility into the 14,400-square-foot Texas Grande Hall ballroom.
Four new tasting rooms, including Messina Hof Grapevine Winery, have joined the walkable Grapevine Urban Wine Trail since August 2014, with a fifth, Wine Fusion, slated to open in late 2015.
Plano
Opened in fall 2014, the 299-room Hilton Dallas/Plano Granite Park Hotel accommodates meetings for up to 1,000 attendees with 30,000 square feet of flexible space, including two ballrooms and an expansive prefunction area.
With 122,500 square feet of space for up to 5,000 conventioneers, the multipurpose Plano Centre is following a sound system upgrade with plans to refurbish its decor, lighting and bathrooms.
San Antonio
San Antonio
The Alamo City continues to strengthen its group muscles with projects that include the $325 million transformation of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Slated for completion in January 2016, highlights include a boost to 514,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, 85,000 square feet of column-free multipurpose space, 70 meeting rooms and a more than 54,000-square-foot ballroom.
La Cantera Hill Country Resort reopened this spring following a multimillion-dollar transformation. This October, the new 10,000-square-foot La Cantera Ballroom and additional meeting rooms will lift total event space to 115,000 square feet. The renovation of all 498 guest rooms and suites, plus new signature restaurant and spa concepts, are slated for completion in January 2016.
In July, San Antonio’s historic missions, including the Alamo, finally received UNESCO World Heritage status, becoming the 23rd site in the U.S. and first in Texas.
This October, the 146-room Hotel Emma opens in the former Pearl Brewery’s renovated 1894 brew house, infused with culinary theming and offering truly historic group space.
Gulf Goast
Galveston
Galveston landmark Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa & Convention Center completed a $20 million modernization project last summer. Property-wide upgrades include all 428 guest rooms, meeting spaces and public areas, plus a new restaurant, Cafe in the Park.
The Texas leader in nightlife per capita, active life options and other categories unveiled a significant new cultural venue this summer, the Bryan Museum. Housed in the landmark 1895 Galveston Orphans Home, the museum showcases the world’s largest private collection of Southwestern historical artifacts, with 70,000 rare items spanning more than 400 years.
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Beaumont
The new Clifton Steamboat Museum offers tours along with meeting and event space for groups of up to 300.
Austin
Austin
New hotels are at the forefront of Austin’s unprecedented growth. With 2017 estimates calling for 11,000 downtown rooms and 36,000 citywide, 2015 openings are boosting inventory to 8,300 and 33,000, respectively.
Debuting in February, the 1,012-room JW Marriott Austin offers 120,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space two blocks from the Austin Convention Center. The 366-room Westin Austin Downtown, with 15,000 square feet of space, opened in July a block and a half from the center. September arrivals include the 319-room Hotel Van Zandt, with 12,000 square feet of space, and 90-room South Congress Hotel, with a rooftop pool and event space for 300 guests.
At least eight more properties are coming by 2017, including Fairmont Austin, with 1,068-plus rooms and 106,500 square feet of space, plus 43,300 square feet of prefunction space and a 19,000-square-foot outdoor deck accommodating 1,200 guests.
Hill Country/Fredericksburg
Phase 1 of the Former Texas Rangers Heritage Center debuted in August, including a Hill Country-inspired open-air pavilion accommodating 250 for seated dinners and events. Beginning this fall, Phase II will include additional space in a Legacy Theater.
Fairfield Inn & Suites Fredericksburg opened in April with 78 rooms and 638 square feet of space.
West/Central Texas
El Paso
With its hotel revenue reaching an all-time high of $172 million in 2014, El Paso continues to develop projects funded by a half-billion-dollar Quality of Life Bond issue. These include the world’s second TouchCity 3-D Digital Wall. Introduced at the El Paso Museum of History in February, this unique user-generated interactive wall, or DIGIE, features 400 years of El Paso history. Approval is in for a $97 million streetcar project, utilizing refurbished 1940s street cars on a five-mile route.
Construction begins around 2020 on a $180 million multipurpose performing arts and entertainment venue. Other projects include a Hispanic Cultural Center and Children’s Museum.
The 120-room Hotel Indigo, set to debut this fall, and a 92-room Aloft Hotel, targeting November 2016, will also enhance the downtown scene.
Lubbock
Targeting an early 2018 opening, the new $85 million Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences will be an ideal setting for performances, receptions, meetings and more.
The new 100-room Arbor Hotel & Conference Center is slated to open this fall with 3,000 square feet of space.
Midland
Midland Center, the city’s downtown premier conference facility, is planning renovations in 2016.
Opened in February, the new Pavilion at the multipurpose Midland County Horseshoe complex offers 52,000 square feet of tradeshow and convention space, plus concert space for 5,600-plus people and another 4,500 at the adjacent amphitheater.
Midland International Air & Space Port, the first U.S. commercial airport to receive an FAA spaceport designation, is the new home of space tourism pioneer XCOR Aerospace.
At least seven recent hotel openings include the extended-stay Home2 Suites by Hilton Midland in the Scharbauer Sports Complex area, minutes from Midland International Air & Space Port and the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.
Wichita Falls
Opened in December 2014, the new Wichita Falls Regional Airport offers direct service from DFW International Airport.
South Texas
Corpus Christi
The 475-room Omni Corpus Christi Hotel just completed a renovation of all of its meeting space.
The Texas State Aquarium is progressing with a $50 million expansion set for completion in 2018.
Laredo
Slated to open by late 2016, the Outlet Shoppes at Laredo represents a major enhancement to the downtown business sector, with an estimated $90 million in economic impact from some 80 retailers in the first phase.
Mcallen
Several new hotels are expected to open next year near the convention center, including an Embassy Suites, LaQuinta and Home2 Suites.
Spotlight
Waco
This July saw the official designation of the Waco Mammoth National Monument as the 408th unit of the National Park Service and 14th unit in Texas. Regarded as one of the world’s most significant Ice Age fossil beds, the site dates to 1978 with the discovery of a large bone. The find led to the subsequent discovery of 23 mammoth fossils, plus a camel and tooth from a sabre-toothed tiger. Opened in 2009, the climate-controlled dig site permanently protects these singular remains in situ. Annual visitation to the site, presently around 21,000 people, is expected to rise by 23 percent within the first year, and then between 8 percent and 15 percent from 2017 on.
