METROPLEXARLINGTON
The City of Arlington and Texas Rangers announced plans for Texas Live!, a $200 million mixed-use entertainment complex near the Rangers’ Globe Life Park featuring a 300-plus-room upscale hotel with 35,000 square feet of convention space.
DALLAS
The historic Statler Hilton reopens next year as the Hilton-flagged Statler Hotel and Residences following a $175 million redevelopment. Conversion of the downtown landmark includes 161 hotel rooms, meeting space, four restaurants and a hotel lounge.
Downtown’s legendary Adolphus Hotel is wrapping up a $40 million facelift. With all 407 guest rooms now upgraded, finishing touches, slated for completion early next year, include fully renovating the hotel’s 24,000 square feet of meeting space and adding 3,700 square feet of space on the 19th floor.
With a projected 2018 opening, construction is slated to start this fall on a 210-room Virgin Hotel in the Design District, with meeting space, a rooftop pool, the signature Commons Club and multiple F&B concepts.
FORT WORTH
With the expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center now on hold (funding reportedly available by 2025), construction is scheduled to start next year on a new 14,000-seat multipurpose arena at Will Rogers Memorial Center & Facilities. The arena is slated to open in December 2019, in time for the 2020 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Targeting completion in March 2017, the new 180-room Aloft Fort Worth Downtown (www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels) will occupy six floors of One City Place.
Announced plans call for the landmark 1930 Sinclair Building, 10 minutes by foot from the convention center, to become a 164-room Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel, while the aging Park Central Hotel, also near the convention center, will be tranformed into a 114-room Fairfield Inn and Suites.
FRISCO
The Ford Center at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ new $115 million World Headquarters and Training Facility, which opened last month, features a 12,000-seat indoor event center and attached 300-room Omni Frisco Hotel, which finished top-floor construction in July 2016, ahead of its projected summer 2017 debut.
Set to open in spring 2018, the National Soccer Hall of Fame, at event-capable Toyota Stadium, will feature 100,000 square feet of renovated space.
Set to open by 2019 in the $1.6 billion, 175-acre Wade Park development are a five-star Langham Hotel (www.langhamhotels.com) and boutique Hotel ZaZa.
The event-capable National Videogame Museum opened in April 2016.
GRAPEVINE
In January 2016, Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center announced a $120 million expansion adding 300 rooms and 86,000 square feet of meeting space for 1,811 total rooms and 490,000-plus square feet of space. Targeting completion in 2018, highlights include a new 30,000-square-foot ballroom, 30,000 square feet of breakout space and approximately 26,000 square feet of carpeted prefunction space. The expansion will make the property the largest resort convention hotel in Texas, and second-largest non-gaming convention center hotel in the nation.
IRVING
Summer 2017 sees the anticipated completion of the $165 million Music Factory adjacent to the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas. The multifaceted entertainment complex will feature an indoor-outdoor 8,000-seat concert hall and amphitheater; outdoor event plaza; 20-plus restaurants; and 250,000 square feet of retail. Aiming for a late 2018 opening, a $110 million, 350-room Westin headquarters hotel with 16,000 square feet of space completes the integrated district.
PageBreakOffering 31 multipurpose rooms with 41,000 square feet of versatile space, the luxurious 431-room Four Seasons Resort & Club Dallas at Las Colinas recently completed the $7 million renovation of level one of its 34,000-square-foot conference center. Enhancements include the new 4,400-square-foot Lantana Room and outdoor deck, which boasts one floor-to-ceiling window wall of natural light and is divisible into two equal sections with room for up to 400 guests. Additionally, the Pecos Room offers more than 600 square feet of new breakout space in the heart of the facility.
MESQUITE
Now under construction across from the Mesquite Convention Center, a new 80-room Marriott Towne Place Suites is slated to open in early 2017.
The 97-room Courtyard Dallas Mesquite recently completed a full-property multimillion-dollar renovation.
PLANO
The 122,500-square-foot Plano Centre is currently undergoing a $6.5 million facility-wide upgrade, including new lighting and sound systems, new finishes for all breakout rooms, and new directional signage.
Five hotel openings over the next 12 months include the anticipated 2017 debut of a 300-room Renaissance Hotel with approximately 30,000 square feet of meeting space in the new 240-acre Legacy West development.
GREATER HOUSTON
Slated for completion this month, the $335 million Marriott Marquis Downtown Houston joins the 1,200-room Hilton Americas–Houston across Discovery Green Park to become the George R. Brown Convention Center’s second skywalk-connected headquarters hotel. The 1,000-room property will feature 166,000 square feet of multipurpose space, including 40,000- and 20,000-square-foot ballrooms. Plus, there will be a 60,000-square-foot pool deck overlooking the park, a rooftop infinity pool and a Texas-shaped lazy river, and ground-level restaurants including a 12,000-square-foot sports bar.
With 2,300-plus rooms coming to downtown alone over the next few years and hundreds citywide, Crowne Plaza Hotel Houston Downtown, near the convention center, was reintroduced this year as The Whitehall Hotel following a $5 million renovation to all 259 guest rooms and 12,000-plus square feet of meeting space.
PageBreakTHE WOODLANDS
Starwood’s 50th Texas property, the 302-room Westin at The Woodlands, debuted in April 2016. Offering 15,000 square feet of waterfront space, including the 6,000-square-foot Edgewater Ballroom and outdoor terrace, the hotel also features the 150-seat Current restaurant and outdoor vanishing-edge pool.
Opened in January 2016, Embassy Suites by Hilton The Woodlands at Hughes Landing offers 205 suites, 3,000 square feet of function space and a 4,000-square-foot rooftop pool deck overlooking Lake Woodlands.
SAN ANTONIO
Completed in January 2016, the $325 million transformation of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center increased the venue’s total footprint to 1.6 million square feet. Highlights include 514,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, 85,000 square feet of column-free multipurpose space, 70 meeting rooms and a 54,000-square-foot ballroom, the largest in Texas.
When completed in 2018, the redeveloped Hemisfair site adjacent to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center will offer an 18-plus acre multipurpose park rich with visitor amenities.
Scheduled for completion ahead of San Antonio’s hosting of the NCAA Final Four in 2018, the 65,000-seat Alamodome is undergoing a $43 million modernization.
AUSTIN
Summer 2017 sees the anticipated debut of the 1,068-room Fairmont Austin. Linked to the Austin Convention Center by the Red River Canopy Walk, the $370 million, 37-story hotel will feature 106,000 square feet of meeting space, plus an additional 43,300 square feet of prefunction space and a 19,000-square-foot outdoor deck accommodating 1,800 guests.
Opened in July 2016, the 222-room Sheraton Georgetown Texas Hotel & Conference Center creates a new group base in Georgetown, 25 miles north of Austin and the fastest growing city in Texas. Highlights include 30,000 square feet of space, including 7,000 square feet of outdoor space and a 16,000-square-foot ballroom.
Slated for a spring 2017 debut, the LEED Silver-certified, 139-room Hyatt Place Hotel offers a new meetings-capable option at Austin–Bergstrom International Airport.
GULF COAST
BEAUMONT
With 20 uncovered and four covered courts, the new Beaumont Tennis Center is a stage for local, state and national tournaments.
GALVESTON
Moody Gardens’ popular reception venue the Aquarium Pyramid, is under way on a $39 million renovation. With phased closings, the grand reopening, introducing new exhibits such as jellyfish and tropical penguins, is scheduled for May 2017.
In April 2016, The Bryan Museum unveiled a Victorian-style conservatory for meetings and events.
WEST TEXAS
AMARILLO
Set to open June 2017 across from the Amarillo Civic Center Complex, the AAA Four Diamond Embassy Suites Downtown Amarillo will offer 226 suites, plus a versatile 18,000-square-foot conference center, a spa and private dining.
EL PASO
Both offering intimate event space, restaurants and pools near the El Paso Convention Center and Arts and Entertainment Districts, the 119-room Hotel Indigo El Paso Downtown opened in February, with the 92-room Aloft El Paso Downtown (www.starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels) due for a September 2017 debut.
El Paso’s largest hotel, the historic Camino Real, is undertaking a $75 million renovation over the next 18 to 20 months, creating a four-star option across from the El Paso Convention Center.
With construction set to begin in 2020, plans are forming for a $180 million state-of-the-art multipurpose performing arts and entertainment venue.
LUBBOCK
Now accepting reservations, the 113-room Hilton Garden Inn Lubbock offers five flexible meeting spaces, including a 200-guest ballroom.
ODESSA
Targeting a late 2019 opening, construction is slated to begin later this year on a new $31 million, 78,000-square-foot convention center with a 200-plus-room hotel, as part of a broad city-approved downtown revitalization plan.
SOUTH TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI
Aloft Corpus Christi, with 2,000 square feet of event space, is scheduled to open May 2017.
LAREDO
Offering 14 meeting and banquet rooms and 15,000 square feet of space, historic La Posada Hotel, Laredo’s only AAA Four Diamond property, expects to complete a remodel by September 2016.
Complementing the ongoing revitalization of its historic downtown, the new $80 million, 350,000-square-foot Outlet Shoppes at Laredo is targeting a March 2017 opening.
MCALLEN
Opening this fall, the new 93,471-square-foot McAllen Performing Arts Center will feature some 1,800 seats on three levels and a multipurpose theater with 2,300-plus square feet of usable space.
Several new hotels include the 150-room Embassy Suites by Hilton McAllen Convention Center, offering 12,000 square feet of versatile space.
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND
In April 2016, the South Padre Island Convention Centre unveiled its completed multimillion-dollar renovation project, with sweeping enhancements that include indoor and outdoor digital signage, high-tech air walls in all meeting rooms, and upgraded fiber optics for a strengthened Wi-Fi signal and reliability.
Targeting a 2017 opening adjacent to the convention center, a new 170-room beachfront Courtyard Marriott will offer 10,000-plus square feet of space.
