HOUSTON – Houston First Corporation (HFC) is seeking a team to develop and design a hotel that would be located on top of the new parking garage and office building planned just north of the George R. Brown Convention Center.
A request for proposals issued by HFC says the team would privately finance, own and operate the hotel, which would attach via sky bridge to the north end of the GRB. HFC expects to enter into a site/pad lease with the hotel owner.
The pad has been designed to accommodate about 400 rooms on 15 floors above the 1,900-space parking garage and would include a ground-floor lobby and guest drop-off area. Up to 200 spaces in the parking garage will be set aside for hotel guests.
HFC will look to the hotel developer to propose the number of rooms, hotel type and hotel brands that the developer believes are feasible and best fit the needs of the Convention District and surrounding area. Upon receipt and review of the submittals, HFC will enter into negotiations with the top teams that submit proposals. Construction of the hotel would start about September 2015.
Last week Houston First announced that the Greater Houston Partnership will occupy two floors of a 115,000-square-foot office building that will sit in front of the parking garage. Houston First and the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau will occupy the rest of the office building, marking the first time that all of the organizations promoting Houston will work in the same structure. Other organizations may also occupy office space in the building.