The Park Central Hotel neighboring downtown Fort Worth’s Flatiron Building may become a Fairfield Inn and Suites.
Irving-based developer Icon Lodging is planning to reconstruct the hotel at 1010 Houston Street, with Dallas firm Mayse & Associates serving as architect. The group is working with the city’s Downtown Design Review Board (DDRB) and nonprofit Downtown Fort Worth Inc. to finalize the design. Mayse & Associates presented initial plans to the DDRB on Thursday and is expected to bring an updated design to the DDRB’s next meeting in April.
“I think this is a rare opportunity to take something downtown that is not what it needs to be, and bring it back up to what it needs to be – a great hotel for people to stay close to the convention center,” said Ron Smith, studio director at Mayse & Associates.
The plan is to build a new building using the existing frame, Smith said. The five-story hotel will be about 78,122 square feet with 114 rooms.
The Mambos restaurant on the first floor will be removed, and the space will be used as part of the hotel, he said.
Though the hotel stands near the Flatiron Building, Smith said the hotel won’t follow the Flatiron’s design but instead have a “modern” design, made with material like light gray stone and metallic brick tile.
Fairfield Inn and Suites, a brand of Marriott, is required to have a modern look – Marriott would not allow its name on the hotel if the building stays in its current shape, Smith said.
“We’re trying to be a modern-looking building,” he said. “We don’t want to look like a building built in ’64. Marriott’s not going to let us do that.”
Icon Lodging took ownership of the hotel back in September. The Park Central Hotel is still currently in operation but will shut down once renovation begins.
“Our intention is to bring it to another category of hotel,” Smith said.