DALLAS - The Dallas City Council has approved $46.5 million in tax increment financing for redevelopment of a vacant hotel that once hosted the city's elite visitors.
Remodeling of the Statler Hilton, a mid-century modern landmark, and the former central Dallas library across the street is expected to begin next year.
Developer Mehrdad Moayedi of Centurion American expects the project to cost about $175 million.
"The new Statler is planned to include apartments, a flagship hotel, highly-acclaimed restaurants, offices and a movie theater that will become the foundation to those who call downtown Dallas home," Moayedi said in a prepared statement. "We are
truly honored to be part of urban Dallas."
Centurion American, one of the largest developers in North Texas, is the latest in a series of companies that have tried to save the aging hotel. Financing will come from Trez Capital Funding, Moayedi said.
Built in 1956 at a cost of $16 million, the former flagship for the Statler Hilton chain has stood vacant since 2001. In hopes of restoring life to the collection of abandoned buildings in the vicinity of the former Dallas City Hall, city officials have embarked on an aggressive urban renewal campaign in the past decade.
The city cleared a city block of derelict shops to create Main Street Garden Park between the Statler-Hilton and the former Titche-Goettinger department store, which now serves as classroom space for the University of North Texas and others as the Universities Center.
The $17.4 million park was primarily funded through Dallas' 2003 and 2006 bond programs and was one of several planned downtown core parks.
On the west end of the park, the 31-story Mercantile National Bank building has been redeveloped into apartments. The city provided Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises $65 million to preserve the vacant skyscraper in 2005. Forest City was also awarded $5 million to convert the neighboring Continental Building into 150 additional residential units. That building has also stood vacant for years.
In recent years, Dallas officials have launched a "vacant buildings initiative" that aims to encourage owners to improve the appearance of the structures, which include some of the city's tallest buildings. Officials recently announced plans to redevelop the padlocked 50-story tower that once served as the First National Bank building.
