Latest & Greatest: Texas (Sept. 2017)

METROPLEX

ARLINGTON

Slated for fall 2018, Texas Live! is a $1.25 billion, 200,000-square-foot mixed-use district featuring dining, entertainment, and scheduled for spring 2019, the $150 million Live! by Loews hotel. The upscale 302-room property anchoring the development will offer a 35,000-square-foot convention center annex to support the Arlington Convention Center, a block away. The Texas Rangers’ new retractable-roof ballpark is scheduled for spring 2021.

DALLAS

Following a $225 million redevelopment, the landmark Statler Hilton has a scheduled fall 2017 reopening as the Hilton-flagged Statler Hotel and Residences, offering 159 hotel rooms and 20,000-plus square feet of meeting and event space.

Built by Anheuser Busch founder Adolphus Busch in 1912, the 407-room Adolphus Hotel wraps its $40 million makeover this year. The hotel now offers 27,700 square feet of space, plus a new spa and rooftop pool and City Hall bistro restaurant.

Slated for 2019, the new $80 million Virgin Hotel will offer 200 “chambers” plus plentiful event space in the Design District.

Featuring 600-plus original artworks, it’s “Andy Warhol meets Alice in Wonderland” at the new 237-room boutique Lorenzo Hotel (www.lorenzohotel.com), opened late last year two blocks away from the convention center.

FORT WORTH

Groundbreaking took place in April 2017 on the $500 million-plus Dickies Arena on the Will Rogers Memorial Center campus. Scheduled for January 2020, the 14,000-seat, multifunctional venue will feature nearly 87,000 square feet of meeting space.

FRISCO

In July 2017, Omni Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of the 300-room Omni Frisco Hotel. Located at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ multiuse World Headquarters and Training Facility complex, the sleek tower, designated the “official hotel of the Dallas Cowboys,” offers 24,000 square feet of flexible space with amenities that include The Edge pool deck and bar.

Additional hotels under construction include Hotel Indigo and Drury Inn and Suites Dallas Frisco, both opening in 2017, while properties from Langham Hotels & Resorts and Texas boutique brand Hotel ZaZa are planned for the Wade Park development in 2018.

Slated for completion at press time, the 330 all-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton Dallas Frisco Hotel Convention Center & Spa recently renovated its rooms and connected to the 90,000-square-foot Frisco Convention Center.  

Set to open by late spring 2018, the National Soccer Hall of Fame at Toyota Stadium will feature 100,000 square feet of renovated space, including additional premium seats and a private club.

GRAPEVINE

Targeting completion in early 2018, Gaylord Texan Resort began a $120 million expansion that includes a new 30,000-square-foot ballroom, 30,000 square feet of breakout space and 26,000 square feet of prefunction space.

Wisconsin-based Stand Rock Hospitality announced plans to build a $330 million, 1,020-room resort with 190,000 square feet of amenities that include meeting space, dining outlets, spa, indoor and outdoor waterparks, and more.

DFW International Airport arrivals will have enhanced access to Grapevine in 2018, when anticipated completion of the 27-mile TEXRail commuter rail will connect the airport’s Terminal B to Grapevine Main Street Station in six minutes.  

IRVING

The long-anticipated Irving Music Factory is scheduled to open this Labor Day weekend. Adjacent to the Irving Convention Center and a soon-to-come Westin hotel, the $173 million entertainment-anchored development will feature The Live Nation Pavilion, a uniquely configurable 8,000-capacity indoor-outdoor concert hall and amphitheater; 50,000-square-foot event plaza; 20-plus restaurants; and eight-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Breaking ground in March 2017 and projected for late 2018, the $113 million Westin Irving Convention Center Hotel will complete the 40-acre convention district, with 350 rooms and 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, cocktail lounge and coffee bar.

Construction began in July 2017 on the boutique, “Texas-style” 144-room Valencia Texican Court Hotel. Across from the convention center, the project, with meeting space, is targeting completion by fall 2018.

MESQUITE

The 90-room TownePlace Suites Dallas Mesquite is scheduled to open in November 2017 across from the Mesquite Convention Center.

PLANO

Slated to open at mixed-use Legacy West this fall, Legacy Food Hall is a premiere new 55,000-square-foot culinary and entertainment experience, featuring a food hall with some 22 stalls from DFW-area chefs and artisans, half a dozen bars and the Box Garden beer garden, created from repurposed shipping containers and anchored by an outdoor event stage.

Opened in June 2017, the new 304-room Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West includes 16 suites and 31,000 square feet of space.

Greater Houston

Houston

Opened in December 2016, the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis Houston joined the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston as the George R. Brown Convention Center’s second skywalk-connected headquarters hotel. The $370 million project includes nearly 154,000 square feet of total meeting and event space, including 52 meeting rooms, and at 39,716 square feet, Houston’s largest ballroom. Plus it offers event lawns and an amenity deck overlooking Discovery Green park, with an infinity pool and Texas-shaped lazy river.

Some 2,300 new rooms are expected to come online in Downtown Houston alone over the next few years, with hundreds more planned for Houston’s Galleria, Energy Corridor and Medical Center districts.

San Antonio/Hill Country

SAN ANTONIO

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.

Benefiting San Antonio’s overall meetings package, the $50 million modernization of the 65,000-seat Alamodome is on track for completion in November 2017, ahead of San Antonio’s hosting of the 2018 NCAA Final Four. Improvements include a new 24,000-square-foot multiuse space, and now completed, the addition of more contiguous event space to the North Plaza.

Construction is reportedly expected to commence soon on a 24-story, 197-room Canopy by Hilton hotel in downtown, targeting a 2019 debut.

FREDERICKSBURG

Following a feasibility study, negotiations are underway for the possible development of a 150-room full-service hotel in Fredericksburg with a 12,000-square-foot ballroom and some 5,500 square feet of breakout space.  

Two conference hotels, the 103-room Fredericksburg Inn & Suites (www.fredericksburg-inn.com) and 90-all-suite Inn on Barons Creek Spa and Conference Center completed room upgrades within the last year.  

Austin Area

AUSTIN

This month sees the anticipated debut of Fairmont Austin. Linked to the Austin Convention Center, the $370 million, 37-story hotel, with 1,048 guest rooms and 42 suites, will offer 128,500-plus square feet of flexible space, including two 25,000-square-foot ballrooms and a 19,000-square-foot outdoor deck accommodating 1,800 guests.

Austin’s continuing hotel boom is expected to create 12,277 downtown rooms and 40,236 rooms citywide by 2019.

ROUND ROCK

Kalahari Resorts and Conventions is expanding to Texas. Its fourth property, including 990 guest rooms and a 200,000-square-foot-convention center, is slated to open in Round Rock in 2020.

Gulf Coast

GALVESTON

In May 2017, Moody Gardens unveiled the multiphase $37 million renovation of its popular attraction and reception venue, the Aquarium Pyramid. New exhibit highlights include the Humboldt penguin habitat, jellyfish gallery and Gulf of Mexico oil rig. Planned for this October with completion by mid-November 2017, Moody Gardens in investing $400,000 in a property-wide Internet upgrade.

May also saw the unveiling of a $20 million beach nourishment and expansion project in Galveston, while the island’s historic free trolley service returned for the first time since Hurricane Ike in 2008.

This month sees the anticipated groundbreaking on a full-service Cambria by Choice Hotels property with meeting space, scheduled to open in 2019.

West/Central Texas

AMARILLO

Accepting reservations starting Sept. 25, the Hilton-branded 226-room, all-suite Embassy Suites Downtown Amarillo will offer 18,000-plus square feet of meeting space. The long-anticipated property sits by the 1,300-seat Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts and across from the Amarillo Civic Center, where groups have 400,000-plus square feet of flexible space.

At least four new and planned properties, including the now-open SpringHill Suites West Amarillo (www.marriott.com) and La Quinta Inn Amarillo Mid City, plus nearly finished Hampton Inn & Suites and Holiday Inn (www.ihg.com), will add another 500 rooms to the Amarillo market this year.

The legendary Big Texan Steak Ranch is undergoing a major multiyear, multivenue expansion plan as part of its move to a sprawling new location about a mile away. New products include the 20-acre Starlight Ranch event facility, accommodating groups of up to 800.

Plans were announced this summer for a new 5,000- to 7,000-seat downtown stadium for Amarillo’s new AA Minor League Baseball team, with the current San Antonio Missions moving to Amarillo, targeting a spring 2019 opening.  

EL PASO

Construction is slated for 2020 on a new $180 million state-of-the-art, multipurpose performing arts and entertainment venue for downtown El Paso. Scheduled for 2018, the city is investing some $13.4 million in two new aquatic centers, each housing a 50-meter Olympic-size competitive pool.
 
LUBBOCK

In April 2017, the Lubbock Entertainment/ Performing Arts Association (LEPAA) broke ground on The Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences. Targeting an early 2020 opening, the $155 million, 218,000-square-foot entertainment project will reportedly include an acoustically superior 2,200-seat venue, 425-seat studio theater and grand 6,000-square-foot multipurpose space.

MIDLAND

Scheduled for 2019, the new state-of-the-art, 75,000-square-foot Midland Convention Center will include 20,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, 3,000 square feet of meeting space and 6,000 square feet of ballroom space, plus prefunction space and an outdoor plaza, along with Wi-Fi throughout and LED lighting for enhanced mood settings.

ODESSA

Groundbreaking took place in April 2017 on a 218-room Marriott hotel and 67,500-square-foot conference center. Targeting completion by January 2019, the $79 million project includes the refurbishment of the adjacent Ector Theater, a historic performance and event venue from 1951.  

South Texas

CORPUS CHRISTI

The 105-room Aloft Corpus Christi, with 2,000 square feet of event space, was slated to open last month.

LAREDO

The City of Laredo is in early negotiations with the recently remodeled historic La Posada Hotel on a combination public-private project to construct a new convention center.   

The downtown district’s new $80 million, 350,000-square-foot Outlet Shoppes at Laredo offers deals and discounts to tour groups.

Uber and Lyft both launched in Laredo this year.

MCALLEN

Now open on the convention center campus, the 93,471-square-foot McAllen Performing Arts Center seats 1,800 on three levels, and includes a multipurpose theater with 2,300-plus square feet of usable space.

The 250,000-square-foot expansion of the million-square-foot La Plaza Mall is slated to open in November 2017.