From convention center expansions to new hotels, special venues and more, we have all of the Texas property news that meeting and event planners need to know about.
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
With an anticipated construction start in 2024, the $2 billion expansion of the Dallas Convention District is a proverbial game-changer for the city. Located adjacent to the current Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, which will remain operational throughout the build phase, the new 2.5 million-square-foot facility includes 800,000 square feet of exhibit space, 160,000 square feet of ballroom space and 300,000 square feet of breakout space. Unique features will include outdoor event terraces scenically overlooking Downtown Dallas and the Trinity River, plus hotels and a walkable entertainment district. Targeting completion by 2029, the new building is destined to be one of largest convention centers in the nation.
To date, the City of Arlington’s visionary multi-year $4 billion redevelopment plan has produced the $250 million Texas Live! entertainment complex and 300-room Live! by Loews Hotel, offering 35,000 square feet of combined space. Following groundbreaking in October 2021, the next phase sees the anticipated 2024 debut of the new 888-room Loews Arlington Hotel. The luxurious new $550 million property incorporates the new Arlington Convention Center, offering 216,000 total square feet of indoor and outdoor function space. Situated between Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium, the new building connects via skybridge to Live! by Loews for a combined 251,000 square feet of space and nearly 1,200 guest rooms.
2024 also sees the projected debut of the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington. Showcasing Medal of Honor recipients and their stories of valor and inspiration, the 25,000-square-foot venue, set on a 101,000-square-foot footprint, will reportedly feature exhibition galleries, a state-of-the-art Education Center, conference and event space, and outdoor amphitheater for ceremonies.
Updating Fort Worth’s original 1921 Farmer’s and Mechanics Bank headquarters, the 226-room Kimpton Harper Hotel debuted in June 2021 with 10,000 square feet of space, including the 3,000-square-foot Centurion Ballroom, and Refinery 714 penthouse lounge.
Opened in July 2022, The Element Dallas Las Colinas adds 157 rooms and 2,277 square feet of space to the Irving market.
The upcoming $1.85 million renovation of the courtyard at the Plano Event Center will significantly enhance outdoor programming and rental options for planners. The sweeping project, aimed at boosting the venue’s competitive standing, includes extensive shaded areas and expanded hardscape to accommodate receptions, impromptu meeting spaces and live entertainment. Other amenities including a fireplace area and new audiovisual equipment and connections.
Plans for Centurion American Development Group’s $1 billion redevelopment of Plano’s Collin Creek Mall into a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use project include a 200-room hotel with 40,000 square feet of space.
Approved by the Plano City Council in December 2021, Haggard Farms is the planned 142-acre redevelopment of a historic farm that will reportedly include a boutique hotel and multiple outdoor event spaces.
Following expansions to Denver and Las Vegas, Santa Fe, New Mexico-based arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf is coming to the Metroplex city of Grapevine, Texas, with a new permanent venue slated for 2023. Another venue is slated for Houston in 2024.
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Greater Houston
Now open, POST Houston is the mixed-use transformation of downtown’s sprawling former Barbara Jordan Post Office. Highlights include a multi-story food hall, the 5,000-capacity 713 Music Hall concert venue, and Skylawn, a five-acre rooftop park with urban farm.
Expected to open in Q2 2023, the upscale 250-room Hyatt Regency Conroe and Convention Center is poised to boost Conroe’s convention appeal. With a prime business location on I-45 just south of Loop 336, the 41,000-square-foot project will reportedly incorporate a 15,000-square-foot grand ballroom, 8,000-square-foot junior ballroom, 8,000 square feet of breakout and boardroom space and prefunction areas. Amenities include a full-service restaurant, full bar, pool deck and fitness facility.
Galveston
Celebrated as the “Queen of the Gulf,” the former Hotel Galvez, a beachfront landmark since 1910, has been renamed Grand Galvez as part of an ongoing multimillion-dollar renovation. Introducing a new era of luxurious sophistication to the 220-room resort hotel, makeover highlights include renewing the original Peacock Alley, the grand walkway from the lobby to the spa and ballroom not seen for 70-plus years. Original moldings and ceilings are also being restored and brought to light for the first time since 1962. Set to join the Marriott Autograph Collection, the hotel, with classic group venues that include the 500-capacity Music Hall, will also feature refreshed guest rooms and hospitality settings, and new entertainment venues.
Galveston groups have a new 61-room beachfront boutique option at Hotel Lucine. Originally the 1963 Treasure Isle Motel, the last survivor of a lost era of Seawall Boulevard motels, the fully reenergized heirloom retains its mid-century modern charm. Features include a rooftop bar with 180-degree Gulf views, and a restaurant from two Houston culinary celebrities, James Beard Award-winning Justin Yu and restaurateur Bobby Heugel.
[Related: Local Connections Create a True Sense of Place at These Texas Hotels]
San Antonio
Described as “the most innovative and technologically advanced esports complex and arena in the nation,” the new 3,000-seat Tech Port Center + Arena includes a food hall and event space.
Offering 37,000 square feet of space including two ballrooms and 21 meeting rooms, Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk commemorated its 40th anniversary this June by unveiling the $38 million “upscale urban” transformation of all 602 guest rooms and 28 suites.
A raft of future hotel developments includes San Antonio’s first Kimpton property. Scheduled for 2024, the 347-room downtown hotel, partially housed in the adaptive reuse of an 1850s schoolhouse at the intersection of the vibrant La Villita and Southtown neighborhoods, will reportedly offer more than 10,000 square feet of flexible space, including a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.
Announced in June 2021, a planned $50 million overhaul will transform the former Wyndham San Antonio River Walk into a 390-room InterContinental hotel. Aiming for late 2023, the luxurious full-service property will reportedly offer 40,000 square feet of space.
Opened in the Uptown district in April 2021, Estancia Del Norte transforms the original 1978 La Mansion Del Norte into a modern 277-room hotel with conference space that includes the 7,000-plus-square-foot Estancia Ballroom.
In January 2022, officials broke ground on Civic Park, the $27 million redevelopment of a five-acre empty lot on the grounds of HemisFair, site of the 1968 World’s Fair adjacent to the Henry J. Gonzalez Convention Center. Billed as San Antonio’s Central Park, the project, slated for completion in late 2023 and first of three phases, reportedly calls for a zócalo, or public square, for hosting 500-capacity events, plus a 15,000-capacity great lawn.
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San Marcos
In June 2022, The Hill Country Group announced plans for a $267 million film studio in San Marcos just 30 miles south of Austin. With construction slated to start in early 2023, the 209-acre facility, once complete, will be the largest of its kind in Texas.
El Paso
Conrad Hilton’s first high-rise hotel from 1930, the Plaza Hotel, recently reopened as the 130-room Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park. Hilton himself once resided here, along with Elizabeth Taylor, whose 17th-floor penthouse suite was reborn as the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar. The Art Deco tower offers 7,600 square feet of versatile space.
The landmark Camino Real Hotel lives again under its original 1912 name Hotel Paso Del Norte. Located across from the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center, the 350-room Marriott Autograph Collection property offers 32,000 square feet of versatile space.
