Hotel-conference center set for Lake Grapevine

Pearl on the Peninsula rendering

Pearl on the Peninsula

12 stories

220 rooms

32,000-square-foot conference center

- FWBP Digital Partners -

10,000-square-foot ballroom

http://thepearlonthepeninsula.com/

New Era Hotels & Resorts

http://newerahotelsandresorts.com/

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The Flower Mound Town Council has paved the way for The Pearl on the Peninsula, a 12-story, 200-room hotel and conference center planned to overlook Grapevine Lake.

By a 6-0 vote, the council on May 4 approved $24 million in tax incentives over 21 years for the project. Construction costs are estimated at more than $80 million.

“The town has been trying to land an upscale luxury hotel for a decade or so. We’re very excited,” said Town Manager Jimmy Stathatos.

Flower Mound Mayor Tom Hayden said the lake view sets the development apart from others in the area.

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“Now we can have an incredible hotel and conference center with a lake view that can’t be found anywhere else in the Metroplex,” Hayden said in a news release.

The tax package was approved to help New Era Hotels & Resorts and Sunset Legacy LP develop the centerpiece of a 25-acre peninsula portion of the 150-acre, mixed-use Lakeside DFW development on FM 2499.

The abatement is modeled after Chapter 380 of the Texas local government code allowing rebates of future sales or property taxes. In this case, the developer will save hotel occupancy taxes for 21 years. In return, the town will enjoy a $5.6 million net benefit in sales tax revenue over the term of the agreement, according to sales projections from a market analysis the town commissioned.

“It’s a tremendously competitive environment,” Stathatos said. “The town would not be able to land a hotel of this caliber without an incentive.”

All incentives under the agreement are on a reimbursement basis, with no funds provided up front.

Driving the development are the Tarwater and Stewart families, who have owned the property since the 1890s.

“We are thrilled that L. Scott Tarwater … will lead the development effort since he sold the property to our family in 1982,” said Alan Stewart of Sunset Legacy LP, commenting in a news release.

More than 30 years ago, Stewart said, his father, Peter P. Stewart, envisioned a hotel overlooking the lake to complement the then-new Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

“Our family is thrilled that he will see his dream come true right before his 95th birthday,” Alan Stewart said.

Groundbreaking for The Pearl on the Peninsula Hotel & Conference Center is planned for this summer, with construction expected to be finished in late 2017. DePalma Hotels & Resorts will manage the property.

The project architect will be Merriman Associates-Architects Inc., with Balfour Beatty as design builder. Also signed on to the project are TBG landscape design, with Fort Worth offices; Design Duncan Miller, interior design; Gateway Planning, conducting master planning; and Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. of Fort Worth providing engineering services.

The hotel’s top floor is planned to feature exclusive “sky villas” with lake views. The facility will also include a 32,000-square-foot conference center and two restaurants, one a European market concept and, the other an upscale signature restaurant and bar overlooking Grapevine Lake.

The developer plans to seek LEED certification, denoting standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, for the hotel and conference center.

Developer New Era Hotels & Resorts was formed by the founders of Rainier Medical Investments, Tim Lavender and Daryn Eudaly, along with Tarwater. Tarwater previously was executive vice president of development for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts and has completed over 78 hotel and resort developments. New Era is also building a 146-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel and conference space in the River Walk at Central Park development in Flower Mound.