Last May, the Dallas City Council approved plans to build a hotel that is attached to the Dallas Convention Center. The proposed four-star hotel includes 1,000 guest rooms; food and beverage facilities; and additional meeting and parking spaces.
The Crows have spent nearly $5 million dollars on a campaign to block the building of the proposed hotel. $5 million!!! Seriously, they could have spent that on a development in a needy area of the city with a greater ROI.
Hell, they could have made quite a significant donation to the Send Armando to Grad School Foundation. (Side Note: Private and corporate donations are glady accepted to my cause. For more information and to make a donation, please feel free to contact me. The SAGSF is a 501(c)(nothing) organization. It will not cure AIDS or save starving kids in Africa, but it will lead to the success of one of our community’s finest.)
On May 9, I am asking you to make it out and vote. Vote for everything that is on the ballot. Stand up and raise your voice. While there are many offices and issues on the ballot, there is one that I am asking you to help out on—Proposition 1. Please vote NO on Prop 1 so Dallas can have the rights to proceed with plans to better our city and draw thousands upon thousands of people to our great city. Below are some questions and answers most frequently asked about the hotel:
Why does Dallas need a convention center hotel?
Many rightfully ask why Dallas needs a convention center hotel. The answer is simple. In today’s competitive market, a city must have an attached convention center hotel to compete nationally with the nation’s largest conventions—each attracting anywhere between 22,000 to 50,000 visitors at one time. Until last year, Dallas was the only city in the top 22 U.S. convention markets without a convention center hotel announced, under construction or completed.
Some people even ask what other cities in Texas have convention center hotels—you know, just to put things into retrospect. The answer is all of them! Every large city in Texas has an attached convention center hotel; cities such as Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. It’s true that Dallas/Fort Worth is the No. 1 visitor destination in Texas, but without the hotel we won’t be in the top convention destinations in the nation.
What happens if we don’t build the hotel?
Okay, so next people ask what will happen if Prop 1 passes. Well first of all, it means that Dallas will never be able to raise the topic again. If Prop 1 passes, it will prevent the City of Dallas from financing, owning or providing incentives for private entities to build a hotel on their own. In addition, if we don’t build this hotel, Dallas will continue to lose out on approximately $800 million in direct spending and $2.6 billion in annual economic impact. Granted, Dallas does have a relatively strong economy right now; but, just imagine how it would be if we were booking large conventions right now!
According to the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, 13 conventions have been booked and 24 are in negotiations. These events alone represent a combined total of more than $1.4 billion in economic impact. That’s a pretty good chump of change for local business owners. Oh, and I forgot to mention: These bookings are contingent on the construction of the hotel. If Prop 1 passes and the hotel isn’t built, then away goes those 392,000 room nights. Area hotels sure could use those bookings.
How is all of this supposed to be financed?
Okay, okay… So there’s another great question. Money is all of our minds. The proposed project will be financed through tax-exempt revenue bonds, which are often used because cities can borrow money at a much cheaper rate than private entities. The nearly $500 million project will be repaid with the revenues from guests staying at the hotel… not city taxpayers. From the day the hotel opens, it is projected to have a positive cash flow. In the event it does not, there is also a reserve fund to protect taxpayers. It’s also important to note that this financing method is common and is how cities like Baltimore, Denver, Houston, and Phoenix financed their convention center hotels. It’s also how other city projects like American Airlines Center was built.
Taxes are not likely to go down, so there’s no point in arguing that case. However, it is important to note that for Dallas to remain a competitor in the industry, an important industry mind you, we must build the hotel. Public services will not be cut as part of this proposal. So those stories about getting rid of cops, street maintenance cuts and whatever is wrong. Different budgets, different goals—period.
Do we really want to be in the hotel business?
Humm… Yes and no. Yes, we want a hotel if it’s attached to the convention center. See above for reasons why. No, the city does not want to operate it. Omni Hotels has been selected as the professional operator of the convention center hotel. Did you know Dallas already has a similar partnership out at D/FW International Airport? Yessir! The hotel over yonder is co-owned by Dallas and Fort Worth and operated by Hyatt. Omni Hotels is also the selected operator of the convention center hotel in Fort Worth.
Why now? Why do we need to build the hotel now?
Well, it would have been nice if we had the hotel years ago. The past is the past and we’re now looking at May 9th. The time to build is now while everything is affordable (in retrospect). Construction and material costs as low right now because of the economy, so it’s an opportune time to get the hotel built.
Now what?
As with any business proposition, there is always a risk. We need to think about the benefits though. Dallas is our city and we need to be proud of it. So let’s not hamper the great things that are in the works. Let’s get out and vote NO on Proposition 1 and let’s build us a future. Vote NO on Proposition 1 and let’s build us a hotel!
For more information and facts on why voting NO on Propositions 1 and 2 is important, please visit www.votenodallas.com.