Source: Fort Worth Business Press
By Martha Deller
Travelers will get another choice of hotels and airport employees will get a new headquarters under a $92 million development plan approved unanimously Dec. 6 by the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport board.
The board followed the Dec. 4 recommendation of its concessions and commercial development committee in authorizing Phase 1 of the 32-acre Southgate Plaza project at the south entrance of the airport.
Before the vote, the board viewed a presentation by John Terrell, vice president of commercial development, detailing plans for the initial 17-acre phase of Southgate project. Approximately 12 acres were set aside for future development.
Design is set to begin immediately on the site infrastructure, with construction to get underway by April at the site near North Service Road at Rental Car Drive.
Two facilities, a new Hyatt Place hotel and a consolidated headquarters for airport employees, could be completed by summer 2014, according to Terrell’s presentation.
The hotel and 6 acres of retail and restaurants are expected to bring in $644,000 in annual sales and hotel occupancy tax revenue – $274,000 for Dallas, $214,000 for Euless and $156,000 for Fort Worth.
Of most interest to travelers will be the 6-story hotel, located on 2.1 acres with 137 rooms and 1,913 square feet of meeting space. The $21 million construction costs will be financed by the Public Facility Improvement Corp. with available cash. The airport will own the hotel, which will be operated by Hyatt. According to the presentation, the PFIC will hire Woodbine Development Corp. as general contractor to oversee design and construction of the hotel.
Airport visitors eventually will see new restaurants and retail businesses in a 6-acre area adjoining the hotel. The development will include pads for two sit-down restaurants, fast, casual dining and quick-service with drive-through plus and inline retail center with convenience retail and a pharmacy.
While those facilities may appeal most to visitors, the eyes of 430 airport employees will be on the 6.5-acre site where a 3-story Consolidated Headquarters facility will bring together employees from four existing buildings.
The 50,000-square-foot office building features an expanded board room that can be configured as a multipurpose training room. The site also includes a 3-story garage with 520 spaces.
The $14.7 million infrastructure and $49.2 million headquarters facility will be paid from Joint Revenue Bonds authorities by the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. They will be repaid from DFW capital account.
The final piece of the development is a new 5,830-square-foot United States Postal Service facility relocated from its existing airport location.