Hotels

Attractions
10/06/10 10:30am

Landry’s Kicking Galveston’s Flagship Hotel Off the Pier, for Amusement

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Demolitions, Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Hotels, Proposed Developments
20 Comments

First order of business for Tilman Fertitta, now that he’s finally succeeded in turning Landry’s Restaurants back into a private company under his control (the deal closes today): announcing the demolition of Galveston’s hobbled-on-a-pier Flagship Hotel. Actually, Landry’s officials jumped the gun slightly, showing plans for a large hotel-free amusement park on the 25th St. Pier site of the shuttered hotel to Galveston’s city council yesterday. In place of the Flagship — which was built a few years after Hurricane Carla hit the island in the early sixties — yep, you guessed it: There’s gonna be a Ferris wheel. Plus: a double-decker carousel and other attractions meant to vaguely resemble the amusement park originally on the pier when it was built in 1943.

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Commercial Real Estate
09/23/10 1:02pm

Old Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel To Be Torn Down for the Views and Parking Spots

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Demolitions, Downtown, Hotels, Office Buildings, Parking
43 Comments

Brookfield Office Properties announced giddily yesterday that the real-estate company has bought the 28-story long-vacant former Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel at 711 Polk St. Downtown — just so it can tear the property down. The once-swank hotel achieved a small measure of fame as the Beatles’ Houston crashpad . . . and was also apparently graced with an overnight stay by Kennedy avenger Jack Ruby. But the building has sat vacant for the last 24 years. Brookfield owns the 35-story office building directly to the northeast (at 1201 Louisiana), which has long offered tenants closeup views of the decaying structure. But it looks like only the building’s underground features will remain:

“Our tenants in Total Plaza will experience views of downtown that they never had before,” announced Brookfield’s Paul Layne, “and access to three levels of below-grade parking.” The company says it has no particular plans for further development of the site once the building is demolished.

In 2007, Omni Hotels and an Atlanta company called Songy Partners announced plans to create an all-suites hotel in the structure, which had been cleared of asbestos in the late nineties. The development was meant to include meeting space, restaurants, and a wellness and fitness center. But the project stalled. More recently, the property was put on the market for more than $8 million.

A few scenes from the hotel’s earlier days:

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Discovery Green
07/12/10 8:17am

Swamplot Street Sleuths: The Air Up There

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Downtown, Hotels, Openings and Closings, Utilities
No Comments

Got a question about something going on in your neighborhood you’d like Swamplot to answer? Sorry, we can’t help you. But if you ask real nice and include a photo or 2 with your request, maybe the Swamplot Street Sleuths can! Who are they? Other readers, just like you, ready to demonstrate their mad skillz in hunting down stuff like this:

Answers to two questions left over from last week:

  • Discovery Green: The sleek, silver and blue Skyline Bar & Grill on the 24th floor of the Hilton Americas hotel is gone. In its place is the Skyline Ballroom, shown above in flouncier attire, courtesy of a reader who pointed us to the hotel’s meeting-room brochure. The 3,275-sq.-ft. space is now available for banquets and receptions. Meanwhile across the green, reception of the 10 wind turbines recently installed at the top of the brand-new 30-story Hess Tower has been just a little bumpy. “The turbines are functional,” reports engineer and new Metro board member Christof Spieler. “Whether they’re economical is another question…. the turbulence at the top of a building means it’s not nearly as good a place for a wind turbine as an open plain.” But it all adds up, commenter Mt figures: “Power Bill savings: Negligible, PR Value for [an] oil and gas company: PRICELESS!”

We’ll post more reader questions tomorrow. Send us what you’ve got before then!

Photo of Skyline Ballroom: Hilton Americas—Houston

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Downtown
03/12/10 12:32pm

The Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel, Where Everybody Knows Your Face

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Hotels, Security
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From a hotel press release:

Hilton Americas-Houston is the first hotel to utilize 3VR [Security, Inc.]’s facial recognition, license plate recognition and advanced motion analytics to provide the ultimate in guest security. In the hotel security business since 1990, John Alan Moore, director of security and life safety for Hilton Americas-Houston says “I’ve never seen anything that is able to do the things this technology does; it’s light-years ahead of the system we previously used.” . . .

Another use for the system that Hilton Americas-Houston has found useful is recognizing repeat customers. According to Moore, “We will be able to tie in with front office systems to flag our Gold Card members in order to be able to blow them away with service. This is another tool to be used to keep Hilton as the leader in the industry.” With 90% accuracy, the system registers few false positives, even picking up good facial info on cameras not specifically designated as facial-recognition. On a humorous note, the system is so sensitive that it has recognized faces that were not actually guests; they were photos of the t-shirts of guests. Moore said “President Obama made an appearance on our skywalk, on a guest’s clothing. That’s how bad the system wants to recognize a face.”

Photo: Urban Jungle Survivalist

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Downtown
02/08/10 2:21pm

Slipping a Hotel Under the Slipcover: Plans from the New Owner of 806 Main

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Hotels, Houston Landmarks, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
7 Comments

The Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson is reporting that a hotel developer out of Fort Worth is purchasing the 22-story office building at 806 Main St. Downtown with plans to gut it, renovate it, and reopen it as a hotel. The building is approximately 100 years old, but its top 10 floors were added in the 1920s. The stone, terra cotta, and brick structure was dressed in a marble-and-glass slipcover about 60 years later. Directly across the street from the tower is the construction site of Hines’s MainPlace development.

The city has designated 806 Main as a landmark. It’s connected to the Downtown tunnel system, but has remained mostly empty in recent years. The last of 40 recent tenants is scheduled to move out this week. Building manager Betty Brown tells Dawson that only the Christian Science Reading Room and Domino’s Pizza on the ground floor will be left — their leases run out in 9 to 12 months.

With the exception of the Embassy Suites in downtown Fort Worth featured prominently on its website, Pearl Real Estate has built or redeveloped mostly suburban-style hotels. The 10-year-old company typically operates its own properties and serves as its own general contractor.

What kind of hotel is Pearl planning underneath this slipcover?

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Comments
02/03/10 2:48pm

Comment of the Day: Ready for a Flood of Guests

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Flooding, Galveston, Hotels, Quicklink
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: READY FOR A FLOOD OF GUESTS “The Tremont House issued the following statement on this incident:As reported by the Galveston Police Department, there was an unfortunate incident on Saturday at The Tremont House which resulted in some slight damage to the hotel. Although the hotel still has two guest rooms out of service, the general operation of the hotel has not been disrupted. The hotel is currently determining the final cost of damages but estimates are approximately $25K, significantly lower than initial estimates. The hotel is operating as usual and is taking reservations for the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration including its 26th Annual Mardi Gras Ball scheduled on Saturday, Feb. 13. . . .” [Christine Hopkins, commenting on We Shall Rebuild! The Great Downtown Galveston Hotel Flood of 2010]

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Cancellations and Delays
01/05/10 5:06pm

Downtown Sheraton-Lincoln Redo: Too Many Reservations

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Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Hotels, Quicklink
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DOWNTOWN SHERATON-LINCOLN REDO: TOO MANY RESERVATIONS Hey, how about those plans to renovate the vacant 1962 Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel on Polk St. Downtown between Louisiana and Milam, and turn the once-swank 28-story hulk into an all-suites hotel with meeting spaces and restaurants? “More than two years later, it doesn’t look like much work has been done at all. ‘Omni is not involved in the project,’ Caryn Kboudi, a representative for Omni Hotels, told Hair Balls. ‘I believe Songy still is.’ . . . The Harris County Appraisal District lists the owner of the building as Downtown Houston Hospitality LP, which is based out of Atlanta, the same place as the Songy corporate headquarters. That could be a sign that Songy still owns the property, but it’s impossible to say, because no one from Songy has returned our phone calls or e-mails.” [Hair Balls]

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Demolitions
06/30/09 11:59am

Roller Coaster on the Pier: Crunch Time for the Flagship Hotel

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Disaster Aftermath, Galveston, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
18 Comments

There may be a buyer for Galveston’s Flagship Hotel, reports Laura Elder in the Galveston County Daily News. The hotel suffered about $7 million in damage from Hurricane Ike last year. But Landry’s Restaurants, the current owner, has a fallback plan in case the sale doesn’t go through:

If the 225-room property at 25th Street and Seawall Boulevard doesn’t sell, Landry’s likely would demolish the hotel and develop a “pleasure pier” with amusement rides, officials say. . . .

Landry’s is pricing demolition for the hotel, built in 1965 as a show of confidence after Hurricane Carla, Jeff Cantwell, senior vice president for development, said.

Perched on a pier overlooking the Gulf, the Flagship fell into disrepair on its own after 1990, when The Flagship Hotel Ltd. took over management.

Landry’s paid the city $500,000 for the hotel in 2004, saying it planned to spend $15 million transforming the property into an entertainment plaza with amusement rides, including a roller coaster.

Landry’s attempted to move ahead, but was stymied by agreements that gave Daniel Yeh, head of The Flagship Hotel Ltd., control of the hotel until 2031.

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Bankruptcies
06/17/09 1:49pm

The Federal Reserve’s Extended Stay in Houston

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Financing, Hotels, Quicklink
4 Comments

THE FEDERAL RESERVE’S EXTENDED STAY IN HOUSTON Extended Stay Hotels, which operates 21 extended-stay hotels in Houston under the Homestead Studio Suites, StudioPLUS Deluxe Studios, Extended Stay America, and Crossland Economy Studios brands, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week. How is the Fed involved? “The Federal Reserve holds $744 million of various junior classes of debt and $153 million in the senior debt that the central bank assumed after the collapse of Bear Stearns, which held a sizable amount of the hotel chain’s debt. The losses are mounting for the Fed on those Bear Stearns assets, which continue to sour. Extended Stay loans were held on the Fed’s balance sheet via a company called Maiden Lane that the central bank lent $29 billion in June 2008 to purchase $30 billion of Bears’ assets.” [Deal Journal; more at Calculated Risk]

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Hotels
04/13/09 4:00pm

Out of Their League: Victory Lakes’ Battle of the Freeway Flank

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League City, New Construction, Proposed Developments, Sprawl
14 Comments

Some residents of 9-year-old Victory Lakes have been demonstrating against a La Quinta Inn proposed for the commercial strip that separates the recent master-planned community from the Gulf Freeway in League City, reports Rhiannon Meyers in the Galveston County Daily News:

[Developer Roy] Mease turned what was supposed to be an upscale suburb and high-end offices into a hub for big box retailers, fast food restaurants and hotels, Victory Lakes residents claimed.

“I’m opposed to these hotels,” resident John Calebrese said. “It’s just another step in the wrong direction of the promises made to the original homeowners of Victory Lakes … (The subdivision) is nothing like what was promised.”

But Mease said the subdivision, with its 14 big box retailers, brings in an “ungodly amount” of sales tax revenue for League City. There is no reason to oppose a hotel plotted for land far away from any Victory Lakes homes, he said.

A Hampton Inn and Candlewood Suites are already under construction. What’s wrong with La Quinta?

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Cancellations and Delays
04/06/09 12:13pm

A Few Reservations About a Downtown Hilton Garden Inn

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Downtown, Hotels, Proposed Developments
1 Comment

That 11-story, 240-room Hilton Garden Inn the WEDGE Group International was planning to build next to the company’s Downtown tower has been put on hold — at least until September — a source tells Swamplot. Financing apparently wasn’t the issue. Our source says that Hilton’s executive board is being cautious, and “wanted to watch the Houston market conditions to see if it would be a wise placement.”

The hotel was planned to fit directly to the north of the WEDGE tower at 1415 Louisiana and cover the blank parking-garage wall facing Clay St.

Rendering of Proposed Hilton Garden Inn: Mitchell Carlson Stone

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Comments
03/12/09 8:45pm

Comment of the Day: Downtown Hilton Garden Inn Furniture Plan

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Downtown, Financing, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
2 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: DOWNTOWN HILTON GARDEN INN FURNITURE PLAN “Financing? WEDGE’s principal can find the money for this project in his couch cushions. According to ArabianBusiness.com, Issam Fares is currently the 32nd richest Arab on the planet with a net worth of $2.4 Billion.” [Bernard, commenting on Downtown Wallflower: A New Hilton Garden Inn?]

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Downtown
03/11/09 10:39am

Downtown Wallflower: A New Hilton Garden Inn?

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Hotels, Parking, Proposed Developments
6 Comments

Schemers at over- capitalized WEDGE Group International appear to have hatched a complicated plot to cover up that 11-story blank parking-garage wall at the base of the company’s Downtown tower at 1415 Louisiana. The plan: slide a new building of equivalent height — say, a Hilton Garden Inn — right next to the tower’s north base, then add a suburban-style porte-cochere entrance along Clay St.

HAIF user lockmat unearthed this small rendering of the hotel (above), which was hiding in plain view on the WEDGE Real Estate Holdings website. It shows how the completed wallcovering would look from Louisiana St., just north of Clay — if WEDGE’s separate 12-story Clay Garage wasn’t there to block the view. The tall buildings shown in the background are the WEDGE tower and the ExxonMobil building just behind it to the left.

How far along are these plans?

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Apartments
10/21/08 11:22am

Putting Off the Ritz: Boulevard Place Towers Stalled

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Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
1 Comment

Aerial View of BLVD Place, Showing Proposed Ritz Carlton and Hanover Apartment Towers

Remember the two 30-plus-story towers planned for Boulevard Place on Post Oak — the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Hanover apartment tower? How have they been surviving the rumbling credit crunch?

A HAIF user last week

got slight confirmation that both the hanover tower and the ritz are going to be delayed at least slightly… they still expected both to happen, but they will be phased in.

Then yesterday came another comment:

i can confirm this in regards to hanover.

dont expect their tower to be built anytime soon.. i would consider it postponed indefinitely rather than slightly.

Followed by this:

As a sub on this project I will also confirm this. We have been told at least 6 months of delays.

But they still look great on paperscreen!

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Hotels
07/14/08 2:02pm

1634 Westheimer: New Bunkhouse Hotel in Montrose

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Mixed Use, Montrose, Proposed Developments
3 Comments

Drawing Showing Planned Hotel at 1634 Westheimer, Montrose, Houston

Concept drawings for the new “boutique” hotel on Westheimer mentioned here on Friday are out! A tipster sends us to a HAIF post pointing to the Bunkhouse Management website, where Liz Lambert and company — the team behind Austin’s too-cool slow-mo Hotel San Jose rehab and Jo’s Coffee — have posted sketches of a 5-story, 75-room hotel complex planned for 1634 Westheimer, between Dunlavy and Mandell.

Yes, that’s the long-vacant failed-condo site next to Buffalo Exchange, across the street from the Leopard Lounge. Bunkhouse describes the site as a “blank slate,” but they’re likely to find a number of poured-then-abandoned piers on the property.

Bunkhouse’s plans show a restaurant, patio, and retail space fronting Westheimer. The hotel, wrapping around a pool, is in back, reachable from the front patio and a car entrance along one-block-long Kuester St., on the east side of the property.

Below: More drawings, including a site plan.

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