The proposed Hotel Denizen would be located on a 1.7-acre site off SH 121 and Alma Road with 500,000 square feet across four stories, and a fitness center and laundry facilities, according to documents from McKinney meetings.
“It’s going to be an upscale hotel,” Michael Mueller with Archstreet McKinney said at an April McKinney Community Development Corp. meeting. “There’s going to be a lot of suites in this hotel—13% of the inventory is premium rooms, with an all-glass facade facing the retail and park at District 121.”
Earlier this spring Archstreet McKinney requested a $250,000 grant from the McKinney Community Development Corp., which was approved in May. The MCDC is funded by a half-cent sales tax that typically generates millions of dollars annually, which are reinvested to enhance the city.
During the April presentation, Mueller noted that not all the funding for the estimated $20 million hotel had been secured. As a result, the MCDC awarded the grant with the stipulation that funding for the hotel be secured in six months to ensure that the project was viable.
It was unclear whether funding for the hotel had been secured as of this article’s publication.
The MCDC grant would specifically go to a planned terrace on the ground floor, Mueller said. The goal is for the terrace to be used as a public space and “jumping-off point” into District 121, he said. The grant will be used to beautify it with a potential water feature, landscaping and other features to help activate the space, Mueller said.
In his presentation, Mueller stated the hotel would be a vital and complementary component of District 121 that will help support the office, retail and park.
“Walkability is the big selling point for this hotel,” Mueller said at the meeting. “There are no other hotels in the area that are going to have walkability ... in a mixed-use environment like this. It’s really something you have to go to Shops of Legacy or Frisco or Allen to get right now, other than downtown McKinney.”
He explained the hotel itself would have a lobby, bar and patio, but offer limited services beyond that. The goal, he said, is to partner with the businesses at District 121, such as WorkSuites, Bob’s Chophouse and Mi Cocina, to provide meeting space and food.
Meeting documents showed the estimated economic impact of the proposed hotel is $3.5 million in revenue for the city of McKinney over the next 10 years and $8.5 million in revenue over the next 20 years.
The hotel is at a concept design phase, and if funding is secured, construction should begin in 2023, Mueller said.
