Courtyard Marriot hotel with conference center coming to Pflugerville

"It is not, as they say, your grandfather's Courtyard [Marriott]. We are bringing something special to the city," Barham said. "It is going to attract particularly the Gen-X, Gen-Y travelers as they are the traveling public of the future."

City council members unanimously approved financial incentives for the project and seemed excited by Barham's visual presentation depicting a sleek bar and lobby and a canopied poolside area.

A package of incentives

The city of Pflugerville will waive all city-mandated building, water and electrical connection fees, according to a news release.

The city will also refund the hotel's occupancy tax and pay Village Holdings 75 percent of whatever hotel occupancy taxes are collected in the future from the next four hotels built in Pflugerville. All hotel occupancy tax rebates received by Village Holdings, including its own and those from other future hotels, will be capped at a total of $625,000 per fiscal year.

The agreement is meant to cover expenses for furniture and equipment in the conference center. Madison said the arrangement makes sense given that conferences at the Marriott could attract more people than the hotel can accommodate. The other hotels would benefit from overflow customers, she said.

Pflugerville will also pay Village Holdings 100 percent of the ad valorem tax collected from the project for 15 years. After that, the incentive will be lowered by 15 percent each year to a floor of 25 percent, where it will remain for 10 years.

Up to a maximum of $50,000 the city will also rebate 50 percent of the actual project sales tax (the one-cent, city sales tax levied on certain stores, businesses and restaurants) for 15 years.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the hotel occupancy tax rebate incentive.