Hammons to develop 7th Texas hotel

Non SBJ Author

Posted online June 19, 2005 | 11:00 pm

Springfield hotelier John Q. Hammons has announced plans to develop a 10-story, 250-room Courtyard by Marriott in McKinney, Texas. Hammons would own the hotel and his public company, John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. (AMEX: JQH), would manage it, according to a June 14 press release.

The hotel anchors a planned development and connects to the proposed 75,000-square-foot McKinney Conference Center in suburban Dallas, according to company plans. Construction of the city-owned conference center and the Courtyard hotel, Hammons’ seventh in Texas, is slated to begin in spring 2007 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 75 and state Highway 121, near the Collin County Regional Airport.

“John Q. Hammons Hotels continues to invest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area because it is one of the best centers for growth in the country,” Hammons said in the release.

“Over the next five to 10 years, we foresee the area around state Highway 121 and U.S. Highway 75 will experience tremendous growth, especially when 121 is completed,” Hammons added.

The hotel and conference center are part of a 1 million-square-foot shopping and residential development. The planned development, owned by O & S Holdings LLC of Brentwood, Calif., features shopping, dining, entertainment, offices and possible apartments and residences, according to Chris Shane, vice president of acquisitions for O & S Holdings.

“The hotel and convention center represents one of the largest and most complex projects the McKinney Economic Development Corporation has worked on,” said Ray Ricchi, chairman of the McKinney Economic Development Corp., in the release.

“This development will bring a new tax base and jobs to McKinney, and we are excited all the parties are ready to move forward,” he added.

According to recent U.S. Census estimates, McKinney is the fastest-growing city in the United States among towns of 50,000 people or more during the 2000 Census.

McKinney, located 30 miles north of Dallas, has an estimated population of nearly 100,000.

Hammons Hotels manages 58 hotels, while Hammons has personally developed 160 hotels. The public company is selling its stock for $24 a share to Delaware-based investor group JQH Acquisitions LLC.

O & S Holdings has another Springfield connection. The company, with 80 developed properties nationwide, is developing the Bass Pro Outdoor World-anchored Louisiana Boardwalk, a 650,000-square-foot waterfront entertainment and outlet shopping center with a 14-screen Regal Theater.

[[In-content Ad]]