ARLINGTON (1080 KRLD) - The Arlington City Council tonight will vote the development of a proposed new hotel and convention center near Globe Life Field.
The proposal comes from the company responsible for the Live! by Lowe's hotel that opened next to the new home of the Texas Rangers earlier this year.
The proposal calls for a hotel with more than 800 rooms to be connected by a pedestrian sky bridge to Live! by Lowe's. Both hotels would feed into the new convention center. The combined cost for the new hotel and convention center is estimated at $550 million. The developer would cover construction of both properties, with the city receiving ownership of the convention center along with an obligation to cover annual maintenance costs. The developer is requesting tax rebates on hotel occupancy taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and mixed beverage taxes.
A recent study by the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that the city had lost out on $16 million worth of hotel bookings due to insufficient capacity near Globe Life Field. City staffers predict the additional hotel capacity would also make it easier to book events at AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field and Arlington's eSports Stadium year-round.
The Council will also consider an economic development deal for a new mixed-use project at the southeast corner of Randol Mill Road and Nolan Ryan Expressway. It would contain an office complex, more than 200 condo or apartment units, 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a parking facility. The developers are asking the city to issue bonds to cover the construction of the parking facility and to make a one-time grant of $11 million in economic development funds for the project.
Both projects are up for a vote at tonight's meeting of the Arlington City Council. If they are approved, construction on both projects would start in 2020 and are scheduled to be finished in 2023.