In two years, the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center and Great Wolf Lodge will be joined by a third water park resort after Grapevine City Council approved an incentive package for a Stand Rock Hospitality project Aug. 2.

Leigh Lyons, director of communications for the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the new water park will add to Grapevine’s already booming tourism industry.

“By offering additional choices, Grapevine continues to provide consumers with options and reasons for them to return time and time again,” she said. “And with the addition of a third water park, Grapevine now becomes the water park epicenter of the Southwest.”

The Stand Rock announcement comes seven months after Gaylord Texan announced it would undergo a $120 million expansion, making it the second-largest convention center hotel not attached to a casino in the U.S.

Stand Rock’s resort, which will be the first Stand Rock facility in Texas, is estimated to cost $330 million.

“Grapevine has a record-setting [two] years with 12 major economic development deals announced between this year and last year,” Grapevine Economic Development Director Bob Farley said.

Stand Rock details

The resort will be located on the Palmeiro Tract, a 185-acre tract of land located north of Grapevine Mills that the city purchased in 2013 from former Texas Rangers player Rafael Palmeiro.

So far, the tract has also attracted Kubota Tractor Corp.’s headquarters, a 454-unit multifamily development, and a Mercedes-Benz USA LLC training and distribution facility.

Farley said the development will be built in two phases with construction expected to start in mid-2017 on the first phase.

Phase 1 will include 420 guest suites in a variety of configurations and styles, 170,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor water park amenities, and a 20,000-square-foot family entertainment center for a cost of $170 million.

The second phase will cost $160 million and will add 200 vacation ownership hotel condominium units and 400 additional guest suites, which will put the total room count of 1,020.

Farley said the vacation units are similar to a timeshare.

“It might look like a hotel, but it’s really something that people own fractional ownership of and they access it by not so much by paying for it, but through a point system,” he said.

Erin Ruppenthal, Stand Rock Hospitality public relations specialist, said neither a name nor specifics about the development has been decided yet.

“The building design and the theming throughout the public spaces, water parks and guest rooms will reflect the history and culture of the region,” she said. “It will feature a combination of water attraction favorites and state-of-the-art, new-to-market rides and attractions.”

Economic impact

Farley said the 10-year incentive  states Stand Rock will be refunded part of its annual hotel occupancy tax payments to the city, which could amount to as much as $10 million during the lifespan of the agreement.

However, he said the city stands to make millions during the construction phase of the resort as well as when it opens.

“The construction jobs will be at least 1,500 [in number], and all of those people need to eat, sleep and shop somewhere. Not to mention $330 million will be spent on construction, and that’s an injection into the economy all by itself. After it opens, you start getting all the visitation from tourists and hotel revenue.”

Water park competition

With the city already having two water parks, some residents are concerned the new resort might make the market over saturated. However, Farley said each one has a different target market, which will help them stand apart.

“The Gaylord is a convention hotel for the most part, and it focuses first and foremost on the business visitor and the convention business,” he said. [Stand Rock] will have some meeting space, but they are not a convention hotel. It is probably most like Great Wolf but [more suited for children who are older than 10].”

Farley said having multiple attractions in a city is normal.

“If you look at parks around the country, including where [Stand Rock] started, which is in Wisconsin, almost all of these big operators coexist in the same geography,” he said. “They all figure out their target audience and how best to get to them.”

However, Farley said Stand Rock may be the last water park the city sees.

“It’ll probably be [the last], but the fact of the matter is you never know,” he said. “As long as there is land left to develop and as long as you are a tourism destination, you are always going to get looked at.”