Diana Pfaff
dpfaff@irvingtexas.com
972-252-7476 or 800-247-8464
IRVING, Texas (Summer 2008) - The 2008-2009 football season will be the last season the Dallas Cowboys play in Irving's historic Texas Stadium. But don't shed any tears for the city. More than $2 billion in development is slated for all sections of the city, and by 2011, Dallas Area Rapid Transit will connect downtown Dallas to the Texas Stadium site and the Las Colinas Urban Center. Below is a brief snapshot of the renaissance underway in Irving, Texas.
The City of Irving has kicked-off plans to develop a new convention center and entertainment complex in the city's Las Colinas area. Preliminary plans for phase one of the project call for a meeting and event facility with nearly 100,000 square feet of exhibit, conference and event space, including a 50,000-square-foot, column-free exhibit hall and 20,000-square-foot ballroom. Proposed components for phase two of the project include a 3,400-seat concert hall; 12 live performance venues; 215,000 square feet of restaurants retail and cinema; a full-service, 400-room convention center hotel; 100-room Watermark Hotel and Spa; and condominiums. A fall 2010 opening is anticipated for phase one. For more information, visit www.irvingtexas.com.
In addition, the City of Irving is in exclusive negotiations with Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises to create a detailed, development master plan for the Texas Stadium redevelopment area. "From the start, this project has truly represented a significant crossroads in Irving's future," says Irving Mayor Herbert Gears. "The visibility of this site is significant it is the third most-traveled intersection in Dallas-Fort Worth. Collectively, we have 380 acres available for intense urban development, and we are going to capitalize on that." For more information, visit www.crossroadsdfw.com
The first major project planned for the Texas Stadium redevelopment area is Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (more detail below). The new, 380,000-square-foot Tanger Center will be strategically located at the northwest quadrant of State Highway 114 and Loop 12, offering residents and visitors an upscale collection of 90 brand name and designer outlet stores. In addition, more than $700 million in transportation investment has been committed for Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail and the expansions of highways in Irving.
Urban Partners, the developers of Dallas' West Village, is developing a similar shopping and entertainment urban center in the heart of Irving's Las Colinas area. Recently, Urban Partners announced they were in negotiations with ZaZa Hotels to develop a boutique hotel on the site. In addition, shops, restaurants, residential housing are in the works for Water Street, slated for an early 2010 completion. For more information, visit www.waterstreetlascolinas.com.
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. recently announced plans to build an upscale outlet shopping center in Irving, Texas. The new, 380,000-square-foot center will be strategically located at the intersection of State Highway 114 and Loop 12, and will be the first major project planned for the Texas Stadium redevelopment area. The site is also adjacent to the upcoming DART light rail line (and station stop) connecting downtown Dallas to the Las Colinas Urban Center, the future Irving convention center and entertainment complex, and DFW International Airport. The Tanger Center in Irving will welcome an upscale collection of 90 brand name and designer outlet stores, as well as a full-service hotel, on a 50-acre site. The center's modern design will feature a shopper-friendly racetrack layout that will function as an open-air shopping center with both covered and uncovered walkways. Landscaped courtyards, architectural details and a park-like setting throughout will add to the ambiance of Irving's Tanger Center.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is currently building both of their much-anticipated, new lifestyle concept hotels. Aloft Las Colinas, a select-service version of W Hotels, is a 136-room property with urban-influenced design, accessible technology, style and a social atmosphere. Element Irving, inspired by Westin Hotels & Resorts, will offer 123 guestrooms designed for extended stay, each featuring a full kitchen, contemporary bathroom with oversized spa shower, and the renowned Westin Heavenly Bed. Both Aloft Las Colinas, slated for a mid-2008 opening, and Element Irving, scheduled to open fall 2008, will be the first of their respective brands to open in Texas, as well as one the firsts of each nationwide. For more information, visit www.alofthotels.com and www.elementhotels.com.
NYLO Hotels LLC has broken ground on their third hotel, located in the master-planned community of Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. The upscale, boutique hotel will feature 200 spacious, loft-style rooms, a state-of-the-art business center, high-tech gym, clothing boutique, 24-hour healthy-alternative restaurant and bar, and 6,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 3,000-square-foot ballroom with a dramatic urban loft ballroom. Guest rooms will feature NYLO NYTE beds by Simmons Bedding Company, flat-screen TVs, complimentary wireless Internet access, iPod docking stations and large, moveable desks with ergonomic chairs. NYLO Las Colinas is slated to open in May 2009. For more information, visit www.nylohotels.com.
InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world's largest hotel groups by number of rooms, recently announced plans for a project incorporating a new-build 150-room Crowne Plaza and a new-build 85-room Hotel Indigo in Irving's Las Colinas community. Both hotels are expected to open in 2010. The two hotels will be developed in one striking building, in order to preserve the aesthetic importance of Las Colinas, a master-planned community created in 1973 by Ben H. Carpenter. His original vision called for a community of "unrivaled beauty and aesthetics," and this new development will adhere to his high standards. The hotels will each have separate entrances, but will share public areas including, conference space, fitness center and swimming pool; both properties will be owned by Platinum Hospitality, LLC, and managed by Patriot Hospitality, under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group. For more information, visit www.ihgplc.com.
The 397-room Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas is in the midst of a $150-million expansion which will bring 30 additional villa suites, a second resort-style pool, renovated lobby and guest rooms, and a complete overhaul of the Tournament Players Course Las Colinas, home of the PGA Tour's EDS Byron Nelson Championship each spring. Last year, the resort added 40 new guest villas, enhanced its 30,000-square-foot conference center, built an outdoor wedding and event lawn, and refurbished their second 18-hole course, Cottonwood Valley. Completion on current enhancements and additions are scheduled for late-2008. For more information, contact Angela Enright at 972-717-2441 or angela.enright@fourseasons.com.
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has opened the 282-room Wyndham DFW Airport North. A $13 million renovation, to be completed mid-2008, is transforming the former Holiday Inn Select DFW Airport North into an upscale, full-service hotel with guest room and exterior renovations reflecting Wyndham signature designs by Michael Graves & Associates, a widely known architecture and design firm based in Princeton, N.J. Every guest room has been renovated and equipped with Wyndham Be Well bedding, Bath & Body Works True Blue Spa bath care line as well as coffeemakers, alarm clock radios with mp3/iPod adapters, energy-saving lighting and the Wyndham Smart Chair, a functional lounge chair with built-in power, Internet outlets and pivoting table arms, all designed by Michael Graves. Next spring, the hotel will debut "Eat. Refresh. Live," a combination cafe, barista and food mart that transforms from a coffee bar with breakfast service during the day to a cocktail bar with casual dining at night. The hotel also features 12,500 square feet of event space with an exclusive "Banquetology" catering experience to energize meetings and events, outdoor pool, fitness facility with sauna and business center.
About Irving, Texas
Located immediately adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Irving, Texas, (www.irvingtexas.com) boasts more than 75 hotels and over 11,000 rooms. Las Colinas is a 12,000-acre master planned community within the city of Irving, and is known worldwide for its quality and uniqueness. The area has a total taxable base of more than $7 billion and is home to 2,000-plus corporations and four Fortune 500 companies. In the next three years, the area will see more than $2 billion in hotel, retail, entertainment, office, residential and meeting facility development, including the addition of a convention center, and the redevelopment of the Texas Stadium site after the Dallas Cowboys move into their new stadium.