Hotel won’t be open in time for Super Bowl
Hotel Alessandra, a 20-story tower under construction downtown, will not open in time for the Super Bowl as expected. Weatherrelated problems are partly to blame for the delay.
Hotel Alessandra, a 20-story tower under construction at downtown’s GreenStreet officeretail-entertainment complex, will not open in time for Super Bowl LI as expected.
Project developer Midway cited “weather-related work disruptions” and “logistical challenges” that made it economically unfeasible to complete the work before the Feb. 5 kickoff. The game will be played at NRG Stadium, but many related events will be held downtown, and a number of other projects, including new hotels, are in the works to accommodate the crowds expected to converge there.
Midway will own the hotel; co-investor Valencia Group will design and operate it.
“While we would have like to have been open for the Super Bowl, Midway and Valencia Group’s first commitment is to quality and delivering an exceptional customer experience,” the owner said in a statement.
Houston-based Midway said
“While we would have like to have been open for the Super Bowl, Midway and Valencia Group’s first commitment is to quality and delivering an exceptional customer experience.” Hotel owner Midway
the 223-room hotel was planned originally not because of the Super Bowl, but rather “to elevate the GreenStreet experience.” Still, when it was announced in March 2014, a Midway executive was quoted in the Chronicle as saying it hoped to open in time to take advantage of the tourist influx.
“The Super Bowl is not going to make us or break us from a financial standpoint,” the executive said. “But you’d hate to miss it for the marketing and exposure, even a global exposure, given the people who will be visiting Houston.”
The hotel is being built next to the Forever 21 store, on a block bounded by Main, Dallas, Polk and Fannin.
The work is part of a rash of hotel activity downtown. Also under construction are a Marriott Marquis and an Aloft Hotel. The Four Seasons and Crowne Plaza have announced major renovations. A JW Marriott and a Holiday Inn opened recently in historic spaces.
The hotel boom took off when the price of oil was high and Houston had a shortage of hotels. A recent analysis by CBRE Hotels, previously PFK Consulting, showed that downtown had 74 percent occupancy in 2014, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the average.
About 15 years ago, there were 1,800 hotel rooms in eight properties downtown. Today, Central Houston reports, there are 18 hotels and six more under construction for a total of nearly 8,000 rooms.