Hotel’s Pace Picks Up

The new bond-financed convention center hotel under construction in downtown Dallas has almost met its booking goals for the first years of operation.

The new 1,000-room hotel is also bringing more business to the convention center near the hotel, Assistant city manager A.C. ­Gonzalez told a City Council panel last week. There are 18 conventions booked for 2012 and 19 in 2013, he said, up from the recent average of 14 per year.

Dallas issued $388 million of taxable Build America Bonds in August 2009 for the hotel project, along with $90 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds. The hotel bonds were rated A-plus by Standard & Poor’s and A2 by Moody’s Investors Service.

The hotel has almost reached its booking goal for 2012, the first year of operations, according to Gonzalez. He said bookings for 2013 and 2014 are meeting or exceeding ­expectations.

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