Texas Border Business
McALLEN, Texas – A regional investment firm and McAllen City leaders broke ground Monday on a $20 million six-story Embassy Suites hotel at McAllen’s Convention Center complex.
The new 150-room, full-service facility will be the signature hotel at the Convention Center and will include all the amenities expected to accompany a convention hotel such as an indoor pool/spa, full restaurant, ballroom and executive meeting space.
The Embassy Suites will be within walking distance of the Convention Center and Palms Crossing, a major retail center with a collection of stores and restaurants unique in the region. At this time, construction is expected to begin in August and be completed in about 18 months.
“McAllen is open for business and this great new hotel is a great business asset for McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley,” said Mayor Jim Darling. “It’s the first major convention center-hotel project in South Texas (south of San Antonio) that puts the two together in one location. It will be great for meetings, conventions and other uses. It’s a great step forward for McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley.”
Mayor Darling added that he was very appreciative of the financial firm investing in the city – and without any taxpayer-funded incentives. Goldstein Financial, LLC of South Padre Island (SPI), submitted the winning proposal from three bids put forth and chosen in December 2013. It paid the City of McAllen the appraised value for the property – some $2.1 million. Goldstein, run by President Barry Patel, also owns the Hilton Garden Inn and La Quinta Inn & Suites on SPI along with several other hospitality properties on the Island.
The Embassy Suites is set to occupy the southwest section of the Convention Center’s oval park completing the City’s plan for the development of the Convention Center complex. As for the other two main spaces around the oval: the main Convention Center occupies the north end and the just recently approved $45 million Performing Arts Center on the southeast side.
The Convention Center area already has two hotels nearby, over a dozen restaurants P.F. Chang’s, Macaroni Grill, Tilted Kilt, Saltgrass Steakhouse and BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse and a few dozen retail stores including Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority and Bath & Body Works.
Embassy Suites’ calling card is its two-room suites, which feature a private bedroom and separate living room, and its cook-to-order free breakfasts. The Hilton chain of hotels has over 200 locations in the U.S. Canada and Latin America – including one other location in McAllen.
The new 134,350 square feet hotel will offer one and two-room suites throughout, 12,660 sq. ft. of ballroom and meeting space and 3,763 sq. ft. more for food and beverage space. Also included in its construction will be 209 parking spaces. TBB
