Arlington’s New Ballpark Wonderland Adds $810 Million Hotel, Convention Center to its Lineup
This Entertainment District Just Keeps Growing
BY Courtney Dabney // 12.18.19Rendering of the new Loews Arlington Hotel.
Arlington is on the rise with a collection of big-time draws, all gathered in one location. The Arlington Entertainment District is home to Six Flags Over Texas Theme Park, AT&T Stadium ― home of the Dallas Cowboys, the former Globe Life Park, and the brand-new Globe Life Field, the retractable roof ballpark of the Texas Rangers which opens in March.
The District added Texas Live! ― a sprawling venue with multiple restaurants and nightlife venues, which opened in August of 2018, and just debuted its newest jewel ― Live! by Loews Hotel last August ― featuring conference space, upscale dining and resort-style amenities like its magnificent outdoor cocktail lounge, overlooking an infinity pool, with its framed view of AT&T Stadium.
Now, the district is set to mushroom once again, adding a new convention center, and the just announced, additional 888-room Loews Arlington Hotel. Plans include a vast corporate office headquarters, and a mixed-use residential building, along with a co-working space, and additional restaurants, shops and entertainment options.
Buckle up San Antonio and Austin. . . Arlington is coming for your tourism dollars.
The planned $810 million expansion of Arlington’s Entertainment District, was trumpeted Tuesday night, when the Arlington City Council entered into a public-private partnership between the City of Arlington, the Texas Rangers, Loews Hotels & Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Loews Corporation, and The Cordish Companies ― which also partnered on the recently opened Live! by Loews hotel.
“It’s another great day in Arlington, as we continue to build on the economic momentum in our world-class Entertainment District,” Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams says. “When Loews Hotels & Co, The Cordish Companies, the Texas Rangers and the City of Arlington all come together on a project, there’s no limit to the dreams we can realize here in The American Dream City.”
The expansion will take place over a 30-year period, and will further strengthen Arlington’s convention and tourism opportunities with promises of creating new revenue, housing and jobs for the community. It would bring these partners’ total investment in Arlington, which includes the new Texas Live! and Live! by Loews – Arlington Hotel, to more than $1 billion.
This is the next phase of a greater $4 billion plan by the City of Arlington, Texas Rangers, The Cordish Companies and Loews Hotels & Co. Together, along with the Rangers’ new Globe Life Field, the total investment of new development by the partnership totals over $2.25 billion. The new mixed-use project will be a major economic engine to the area and is expected to generate approximately $1.8 billion in economic benefits to Arlington and Tarrant County, a release claims.
Loews Arlington Hotel will be a $550 million, 888-room hotel, incorporating a 1,500 space parking garage. The hotel will be connected to a new Arlington Convention Center.
It will feature 216,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space, two restaurants with outdoor terraces, two bars, a grab-and-go coffee shop, an 8,000-square-foot pool with 18 cabanas, a fitness center and a spa with six treatment rooms. Loews Arlington Hotel will be located across from Live! by Loews, on the current Texas Rangers’ Lot J parking lot.
“Loews is one of the preeminent hoteliers in North America and a leader in the convention and meetings industry,” says Blake Cordish, principal of The Cordish Companies. “The expansion of Arlington’s Entertainment District, anchored by the new Loews Arlington Hotel and Arlington Convention Center, will create a vibrant mixed-use development and will cement Arlington as one of the leading premier sports, entertainment, culture, hospitality and tourism destinations in the country.”
Adjacent to Loews Arlington Hotel will be a new Arlington Convention Center. This venue will allow Loews to feature 150,000 square feet of interior meeting space, with an additional 66,000 square feet of exterior space for outdoor events and functions. The new Arlington Convention Center and Live! by Loews – Arlington, will be connected via a skybridge.
The planned mixed-use residential building will add 280 units and 100,000 square feet of stores, entertainment and a Spark co-working and incubator space, which could help grow and support small businesses in the area. The residential component will overlook the Texas Rangers North Plaza, providing residents an urban lifestyle in the heart of Arlington’s Entertainment District.
A 200,000-square-foot corporate office headquarters also will be added to the Arlington Entertainment District, as well as a public garage with another 1,900 parking spaces.
Construction will commence in the first quarter of the new year beginning with the first 1,500-space parking garage on the west side of Lot J, which will be connected to the new Loews Arlington Hotel.