Hampton Inn & Suites to be first in the Colleyville's history

Hampton Inn & Suites has been approved to move into Colleyville.

Colleyville City Council approved the rezoning request for the 91-room Hilton-branded hotel at 5200 SH 121 next to La Hacienda Ranch on Jan. 20.

The approval did not happen without opposition; the matter appeared before the council four times before it moved to vote on the item.

Icon Lodging, LLC, the company that will run the hotel, and the developer originally asked the council to rezone 1.94 acres of property from CC-2 Commercial District zoning to a Planned Unit Development-Commercial zoning in order to build a five-story, 96-room hotel.

In addition the developer asked the city for a number of building code waivers. Most notably the developer asked the city to waive the height limit so the hotel could be five stories, construct 97 parking spaces instead of the required 98 spaces, reduce the required amount of landscaped area to 18 percent and waive the requirement that a hotel must include a restaurant.

Strong opposition formed to stop the hotel—which will be the first in the city— from opening, citing problems with crime, traffic, noise, parking, the height of the building and the proximity to Colleyville Heritage High School.

Opposition to the hotel included neighboring restaurant La Hacienda Ranch, which shares the southern border of the property.

Jeff Lowery, the general manager of La Hacienda Ranch, addressed the council Dec. 16 on behalf of owner Mariano Martinez and the 108 employees that work there.

"We are in opposition to the proposed 77-foot-tall hotel that will be constructed only 30 feet from our property line," Lowery said. "There is no doubt at all that this hotel will visually overpower our restaurant and diminish the ambience that we have built."

However, the hotel was not without support throughout the council meetings.

Local attorney and business owner Julia Barth spoke in favor of approving the hotel.

"I vehemently support them building this hotel," Barth said. "This is the corporate location for my law office. I am now housing employees when I bring them in from San Antonio and Houston in Bedford. I would prefer to house them here in Colleyville."

"I feel like the trend is for this little section of highway, the only section that Colleyville has to claim, is starting to peter out, and I think that getting this hotel with this name behind it is going to attract business clients," Barth said. "I believe that it is going to inject life into our section of the highway."

At the Jan. 20 council meeting, La Hacienda Ranch withdrew its opposition to the project because of a number of accommodations that were made by the developer.

When put to a vote the council voted 6–0 in favor of the project.

Residents should not expect to see construction start anytime soon, though.

The developer will need about six months to draw up engineering plans.

After plans are approved the hotel could take up to 14 months to build. The project could start by the end of the year.