The Westin, The Woodlands is under construction at Waterway Square and is
expected to open by the end of the year. It will feature 302 guest rooms.[/caption] Hotel developers are capitalizing on a growing demand for rooms and meeting space in The Woodlands area with several new projects. In The Woodlands, two luxury hotels are expected to open by the end of the year. The Westin, The Woodlands is under construction at Waterway Square and will feature 302 rooms, while a 205-room Embassy Suites hotel is being built in Hughes Landing. Both are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2015. In addition, a $60 million renovation project at The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center is nearly complete. Gordy Bunch, who serves on the board of directors for The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau, said The Woodlands has become an attractive location for conventions, events and visitors looking to stay overnight. But there have traditionally not been enough hotel rooms and meeting space to accommodate them all. "Whenever you have a lot of convention activity, they tend to take up hotel rooms and that compresses the inventory, which drives up demand," he said. Bunch also pointed to events such as the Ironman Texas triathlon as well as the popularity and multitude of events at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion as significant reasons the demand for hotel rooms has increased. In December, Pollstar Magazine, the concert industry's leading trade publication, announced Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion ranked second in the world among outdoor pavilions in ticket sales in 2014. "The Pavilion is a huge [business] generator for us," said Fred Domenick, general manager for The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, and CVB board member. Domenick said the addition of more hotels will allow The Woodlands to attract more and larger conventions, such as those conducted by national and statewide associations. "There is no question that another hotel on the [Woodlands] Waterway is going to help the convention business in our part of the county and our part of Houston," he said. "There has been a shortfall of rooms in proximity to [the] convention center for a long time." Bunch said the hotel industry is a significant economic booster for The Woodlands economy. The township imposes a 9 percent room occupancy tax on all hotel room stays in The Woodlands. Since 2010, the township's room occupancy tax revenue has risen from $3.6 million to $7.2 million, a 100 percent increase. "The addition of new hotels raises hotel tax revenue, helps pay off bonds, increases awareness of the community and lowers the property tax rate," Bunch said. Since fiscal year 2010, the township's property tax rate has decreased from 32.8 cents per $100 of property valuation to 25 cents in fiscal year 2015. Township Financial Director Monique Sharp said the township is projecting increased revenue from the openings of the Westin and Embassy Suites hotels. She said that by fiscal year 2017, the township is projected to see an additional $1.8 million in annual revenue from The Woodlands' two newest hotels, while also seeing a 2 percent increase from revenue from existing hotels.