What’s New: Irving, Dallas-Fort Worth, Plano

Downtown Dallas’ landscape will be changing in the next few years with the addition of multiple new hotels.

Irving Breaks Ground – Again

When the $133 million Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas opened in 2011, it was just the first phase of what would eventually become a multi-use district, situated on a 40-acre tract in the heart of the Las Colinas Urban Center. The site will continue to come to life later this year and in 2018 as a long-awaited music complex and hotel prepare to open.

The city of Irving has finally broken ground on its long-term plans for a convention center hotel. The Westin Irving Convention Center Las Colinas will be central to planners’ vision for a funky, pedestrian-friendly entertainment district. The new 350-room Westin will boast 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 10,000-square-foot ballroom. The hotel is set to open in 2018 and sit alongside the Irving Music Factory – a complex with some 200,000 square feet of restaurant and retail, along with an 8,000-seat Live Nation amphitheater. The music venue will open this fall.

Dallas-Fort Worth Hotel Boom

The statewide hotel boom hasn’t missed Dallas-Fort Worth region; in fact, it’s at the center of an explosion of new properties. With a host of projects already underway, meeting professionals will soon have options for nearly every size, style and budget price point.

In 2017 alone, Marriot plans to open 23 hotels in Dallas-Fort Worth. A 12-story Courtyard by Marriott will be one of the first properties to open downtown Dallas in nearly five years. Other new properties opening up the Dallas market include the 159-room Hilton Curio hotel in the historic Statler building and the Art Deco-inspired Lorenzo Hotel with 237 rooms.

Meanwhile, in downtown Fort Worth, construction is underway for a 15-story AC Hotel by Marriott, a 10-story Hilton Garden Inn and a 210-room Hampton Inn. Additionally, the former Park Central Hotel is being redeveloped into a 114-room Fairfield Inn and Suites.

Staying Posh in Plano

The brand-new Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West is on deck with a planned July 1 opening. Its theme, a melding of Texas- and Asian-inspired art, will be folded into all the design aspects, including its 304 rooms, which will range from a 359-square-foot basic to the 2,315-square-foot Presidential Suite.

And speaking of presidents, all of the rooms will have a lucky cat figurine – along with a famous quote from former President and famous Texan, George W. Bush:

“Some folks look at me and see a swagger, which in Texas is called walking.”

In addition to the Lone Star-forward fun, the property will have 30,000 square feet of meeting space amid its 15 stories – this includes a range of conference rooms and two ballrooms, junior (capacity 325) and large. The latter will hold up to 1,000.  ■

Sources: Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, Dallas Morning News, Star-Telegram
Photo credit: f11photo/Shutterstock.com