Hotel at Apogee Stadium

[houstonmeangreen]

Anyone heard anything new about building a hotel at Apogee...last I heard, they would start construction in the 1st qtr of 2013.

Thanks

[PlummMeanGreen]

KRAM1, help us out here, pal!

'Twill be a great addition in the Mean Green Village when complete, though.

GMG!

Edited January 9, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[Stan R]

Anyone heard anything new about building a hotel at Apogee...last I heard, they would start construction in the 1st qtr of 2013.

Thanks

that's news to me, where did you hear it would start construction in 2013? I didn't even know it was actually a done deal with the funding!

[JesseMartin]

I'd like to know as well. We will be all over the northeast this year and probably won't have time to come home, but hopefully will be able to make a trip back sometime in 2014 or 2015 and it would be cool to stay there if it's not wildly overpriced.

[KRAM1]

KRAM1, help us out here, pal!

'Twill be a great addition in the Mean Green Village when complete, though.

GMG!

If I said anything I would be accused of "shilling for the AD" or some fool would say something negative about why I might have that info, so....I'll just say....gee, don't have a clue. Sometimes it just isn't worth it.

Indeed, will be a great addition.

[eulessismore]

If I said anything I would be accused of "shilling for the AD" or some fool would say something negative about why I might have that info, so....I'll just say....gee, don't have a clue. Sometimes it just isn't worth it.

Indeed, will be a great addition.

Kram, you old tease!

[Harry]

Here's an excerpt from an article dated Dec. 29th on the DRC:

City leaders continue to evaluate a controversial proposal for a public-private partnership to build a convention center on UNT property — an issue that dominated the municipal election this spring. A developer is seeking incentives for a $60 million, 318-room, full-service hotel and restaurant that would compete in a regional market. But local hoteliers warned the city in July that current occupancy levels are too low for the project to be viable.

Link to article: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20121229-year-in-review-voters-leaders-buffeted-by-change.ece

[JesseMartin]

Thanks, Harry. I'll drop a couple of emails and see what I find out now that I have some info regarding the development stage.

[Harry]

Here some more:

http://cityofdenton.com/index.aspx?recordid=1467&page=35

[mockcode911]

I actually stayed at that hotel UNT used to have on 35. It was nice having a place to crash when you came into Denton for the weekend. I think UNT owned the property and land and had planned to build. Hope it comes to pass. It would help to have a place to put recruits and their family up also.

[UNTLifer]

Here's an excerpt from an article dated Dec. 29th on the DRC:

Link to article: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20121229-year-in-review-voters-leaders-buffeted-by-change.ece

The quote by local "hoteliers" cracks me up. That is nothing but a cover for their fear of a real hotel entering the market and providing competition. There are some decent places to stay in Denton, but it wouldn't hurt for some of them to feel a little pressure to "step up their game."

[Stan R]

I don't buy the occupancy rates argument either. Being that close to UNT creates its own demand anyway, not even mentioning the gameday draws. As lifer mentions, and I agree with, maybe people just need a nicer option in order to pull the trigger?

[GL2Greatness]

if the market demand was there the hotel would not be asking for a massive tax payer subsidy

get a clue

and a few nights a year with TMS and Texas OU does not make up for the other 350+ nights a year this subsidized hotel will be taking nights away from others

do you think the owners of other hotels are somehow faking their extremely low occupancy rates?.......those low occupancy rates are real and are not the levels that sustain a hotel for the long term and if they get lower they will not even sustain one for the short term

and if north Texas generated it's own hotel business why did the other hotel that was there go broke and get knocked down.....and before anyone says "because it was a dump"........why was it allowed to become a dump........because it was not making enough money to support itself and continue to renovate that is why........because it was not a viable market just like this new proposed hotel will not have a viable market which is why it is asking for tax payer money right up front

[unt_rocket09]

This past season I could never find a close place to the stadium...ended up at a crappy place once. If this happens me and the lady would be pumped.

[oldguystudent]

This past season I could never find a close place to the stadium...ended up at a crappy place once. If this happens me and the lady would be pumped.

There are decent places in Denton, you just can't walk to them from the stadium.

As I have no woman to please, and I'm stingy on where I pass out post game, the new joint will be out of my willing price range, and I'll continue to bet on the roaches racing on the floor of the Royale Inn.

For the high falutin' crowd that had actual standards as to where they sleep, this would be a super groovy place on gamedays, but I do question year-round viability unless it comes with a convention center and surround retail/restaurant/bar development that markets itself HEAVILY.

[unt_rocket09]

Ya I took the woman to Americas Best Value once...that was a mistake

[UNTFan23]

if the market demand was there the hotel would not be asking for a massive tax payer subsidy

get a clue

and a few nights a year with TMS and Texas OU does not make up for the other 350+ nights a year this subsidized hotel will be taking nights away from others

do you think the owners of other hotels are somehow faking their extremely low occupancy rates?.......those low occupancy rates are real and are not the levels that sustain a hotel for the long term and if they get lower they will not even sustain one for the short term

and if north Texas generated it's own hotel business why did the other hotel that was there go broke and get knocked down.....and before anyone says "because it was a dump"........why was it allowed to become a dump........because it was not making enough money to support itself and continue to renovate that is why........because it was not a viable market just like this new proposed hotel will not have a viable market which is why it is asking for tax payer money right up front

Maybe part of the reason occupancy rates are so low is that there is nothing to drive people to the sleepy little town of Denton other than the few events at the TMS and the OU/TX game.

I suspect the old hotel was saddled with the expense of trying to maintain the golf course. After UNT took the golf course off the hotel's hands, it was going to cost millions of dollars to remodel the hotel to bring it up to par and the hotel management company couldn't afford to make the needed enhancements. So, UNT took over the lease and the building was eventually demolished.

[TheWestie]

The hotels don't book up because when anybody has a conference in DFW it's in Grapevine/Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington/Addison, and Denton is too far to drive.

The Mayborn Conference every summer, which isn't a particularly large conference, has to be held in Grapevine because there is NOWHERE in Denton that has the meeting space to host a conference/convention where you have break-out sessions and large group meetings. The Gateway Center is nice, but it is not a conference/convention center.

Think about this for a sec too: Mac has the team stay at the Marriott across from Texas Motor Speedway because A: it's away from the distractions of campus and B: because it has the conference space needed for all the team meetings before games. Where in Denton, right now, has that kind of space for the visiting team to stay, and to keep the money they're spending, in Denton?

[oldguystudent]

I think the real issue at hand here is the increased traffic in Denia should the hotel get built.

[unt_rocket09]

Build a conference center and there are all sorts of events that could be held there. Coaching clinics for one, not to mention any time the university has any type of event. There just has to be some type of infrastructure to hold an event first.

[PlummMeanGreen]

The hotels don't book up because when anybody has a conference in DFW it's in Grapevine/Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington/Addison, and Denton is too far to drive.

The Mayborn Conference every summer, which isn't a particularly large conference, has to be held in Grapevine because there is NOWHERE in Denton that has the meeting space to host a conference/convention where you have break-out sessions and large group meetings. The Gateway Center is nice, but it is not a conference/convention center.

Think about this for a sec too: Mac has the team stay at the Marriott across from Texas Motor Speedway because A: it's away from the distractions of campus and B: because it has the conference space needed for all the team meetings before games. Where in Denton, right now, has that kind of space for the visiting team to stay, and to keep the money they're spending, in Denton?

That which is highlighted in bold black large letter is typical of our mindset in Denton and UNT as in......"the war is over before the battles even been fought."

And (again) just how far is DFW and Alliance Airports from the Denton County line? Has the county line been moved again?

Here is link (at bottom of page) showcasing over 100,000 conferences, conventions, trade shows, exhibits, expos and seminars.

Now if Denton had a director of marketing (there's that word again) in charge of such a unique hotel/conference center WITH adjacent 10,000 seat facility OR..........even a 31,000 seat stadium (remember when Promise Keepers were in Denton for a few days and put about 35,000 inside Fouts and on the football field, too?) and if Denton had a mover and shaker take such a job who wouldn't come up there and retire 25 years before his or her's official retirment age, couldn't one like that take a list (that took me about 3 minutes to google and find online) and find enough conventions to keep the Denton facility booked much of the year? Think about all the "Education and Academia" oriented conventions that might want a university setting rather than being bottle-necked by traffic in Grapevine?

Also keep in mind that during football season and Game Days at UNT that they might have to avoid bookings unless (God forbid) a convention was booked and attendance of a North Texas football game at Apogee was part of that convention's timeline of events. Lets us not think too far out of the box up there lest our collegues might think we could be on the verge of rocking the boat.

Link.....check out all of the different kinds of conventions in the link.

http://www.allconferences.com/

Edited January 11, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[GrandGreen]

The hotels don't book up because when anybody has a conference in DFW it's in Grapevine/Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington/Addison, and Denton is too far to drive.

The Mayborn Conference every summer, which isn't a particularly large conference, has to be held in Grapevine because there is NOWHERE in Denton that has the meeting space to host a conference/convention where you have break-out sessions and large group meetings. The Gateway Center is nice, but it is not a conference/convention center.

Think about this for a sec too: Mac has the team stay at the Marriott across from Texas Motor Speedway because A: it's away from the distractions of campus and B: because it has the conference space needed for all the team meetings before games. Where in Denton, right now, has that kind of space for the visiting team to stay, and to keep the money they're spending, in Denton?

I still wonder why teams insist on staying away for home games. Seems like a lot of cost for next to nothing. The games aren't played at 8 in the morning, so my guess is you could round up the team in plenty of time and if the players are so undependable that they have to have bed check; then make them live on campus.