DALLAS l Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel l 376 FEET / 23 FLOORS

[eburress]

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

Even seen as a Vegas style hotel, the orientation kinda seems weird. The opening of the V-shape of the Vegas-style hotel/casinos usually open up to the Strip, they greet the city. In this case, the V-shape is looking out onto the surrounding downtown highway ring, and its butt is facing the downtown. How odd!


It's a nice-looking building though. I read it's making quick progress but won't be ready for the Dallas Superbowl next year.

I think its "Vegas-style" is unfortunate. I would have much rather seen a more timeless, downtown-appropriate structure. This is obviously subjective, and while I like the building, I just don't like it in this spot.

[CHAPINM1]

I absolutely love this building, I think it wil be a great addition! It's like a mini version of the Fontainebleau going up in Las Vegas, both buildings are absolutely gorgeous and have very sharp, catchy, clean and modern designs...

[eburress]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

I absolutely love this building, I think it wil be a great addition! It's like a mini version of the Fontainebleau going up in Las Vegas, both buildings are absolutely gorgeous and have very sharp, catchy, clean and modern designs...

Yeah, I think it's a nice-enough looking building, but I question how appropriate it is for this downtown, urban setting.

[CHAPINM1]

Originally Posted by eburress

Yeah, I think it's a nice-enough looking building, but I question how appropriate it is for this downtown, urban setting.

It's tall enough, plus Dallas/Fort Worth does have a unique flashy style of architecture as well. I also look at the Museum Tower and its design that will add to the mix as well.

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by eburress

Yeah, I think it's a nice-enough looking building, but I question how appropriate it is for this downtown, urban setting.

It's just fine. The design was influenced a lot by the size of the lot it was built on. I would have preferred a taller, more slender tower, but on that lot it would have looked silly and I would rather have this design built to cover the lot rather than the acres of surface parking that was there two years ago. The current design looks like it will be very nice at street level. Hopefully they will incorporate some retail at the bottom because I think it will do nicely.

The design also perfectly blends in with the glass towers behind it when you enter downtown from across the Trinity River. Right now, it actually blends in almost too well and can be a little hard to spot from certain angles, but the building's facade will feature color changing LED ribbons between each floor similar to those on Hunt Tower if I'm not mistaken. So at night, the building will light up and fit in perfectly with BoA, Reunion Tower, Hunt and all the other brightly colored buildings.

[jtk1519]

A sneak peek inside the new Convention Center Hotel
Interior design combines Dallas’ signature glitz with comfortable charm
Dallas Business Journal - by Bill Hethcock Staff Writer

The interior design team for the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel wants the facility to reflect the city it’s in. So team members are installing large mirrors and metallic finishes throughout.

They want tourists and conventioneers to know where they stand when they’re in Big D. So they’re weaving map-like patterns of Dallas’ road network into the rugs.

They want folks to know the larger-than-life people who built the city. So they’re hanging supersized portraits of industry titans and city pioneers in common areas.

Figuratively and literally, the designers are infusing the city’s people and places into the $500 million city-owned facility, said Reggi Nichols, principal with Vivian|Nichols Associates, the Dallas-based interior architectural design firm. The challenge, she said, is to meld Dallas’ glitz, polish and sophistication -— its tuxedo-in-the-Arts-District side -— with its bluejeans-in-the-Farmer’s-Market side.

“It’s a snapshot of Dallas,” Nichols said. “If you come to Dallas and you’re in conferences and you never really get to go out, the artwork and the interior will make you think you have had a taste of Dallas. It’s almost like a walking tour.”

The Farmer’s Market was the inspiration for the hotel’s main restaurant, which will have reclaimed wood floors, brick-interior walls and communal tables, where people can share a meal with friends or strangers, she said. Other restaurants will include a sports bar with a 220-inch television, and a Bob’s Steak & Chop House, a Dallas institution.

...

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas...512000^3660231

[skys the limit]

The Omni Hotel is certainly a positive as far as new development on that side of Downtown is concerned.

But renderings of the first proposed hotel for that very same site - a 70 story circular hotel tower proposed some 15 or 20 years ago - would have been a far better solution.

If a 70 story hotel tower would have been built, it would have instantly created a landmark on the skyline and would have added a dramatic new significant skyscraper to Downtown's profile. Since the City was going to build the hotel anyway, why not have really done something striking??

For half a billion dollars it would seem something far more dramatic and a more important signature skyscraper structure would have been the result! The views of Downtown from the north facing hotel rooms would have been unbelievable!

A nice landscaped people gathering spot could have added yet another park like setting Downtown at the base. I just agree that even though this may be a Las Vegas type hotel development, I think Dallas should have been thinking more New York City or Chicago high rise urban in its design.

[eburress]

Originally Posted by skys the limit

Dallas should have been thinking more New York City or Chicago high rise urban in its design.

I could not agree more. This building isn't located on the Vegas Strip...it is an a major city's downtown.

[dollaztx]

Originally Posted by skys the limit

If a 70 story hotel tower would have been built, it would have instantly created a landmark on the skyline and would have added a dramatic new significant skyscraper to Downtown's profile. Since the City was going to build the hotel anyway, why not have really done something striking??

A nice landscaped people gathering spot could have added yet another park like setting Downtown at the base. I just agree that even though this may be a Las Vegas type hotel development, I think Dallas should have been thinking more New York City or Chicago high rise urban in its design.

I personally prefer more new mid-rise residential and mixed-use buildings to go up on this side of downtown. This side of Dallas skyline doesn't have that pyramid-like style like you have on the other sides of the skyline were you go from tall, to medium, to small buildings. It goes from high-rise office buildings and the Reunion tower to low-rise buildings and the convention center. The building has a good size and design, I just hope they did more at ground level to increase foot traffic and vibrancy.

[dfwcr8tive]

Originally Posted by phillyaggie

Even seen as a Vegas style hotel, the orientation kinda seems weird. The opening of the V-shape of the Vegas-style hotel/casinos usually open up to the Strip, they greet the city. In this case, the V-shape is looking out onto the surrounding downtown highway ring, and its butt is facing the downtown. How odd!

Kind of like this (the city's convention hotel project of the 1950s)? 1,000 rooms, 20 floors + ballroom and meeting space.

[dfwcr8tive]

If this project would have included condos on top of the hotel the structure would have been quite a bit taller. For comparison:

The W Dallas (252 rooms) has 18 floors of residences above the hotel (33 stories total).

The Omni Fort Worth (608 rooms) also has 18 floors of residences above the hotel (34 stories total).

If there were 18 floors of residences above Omni Dallas the building would be 41 stories tall.

I personally prefer the current height of the building and think it fits in nicely with the neighborhood. We need more mid-rise structures to fill the empty lots downtown. Hopefully the surrounding development comes to fruition to make this area more vibrant.

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by dfwcr8tive

If this project would have included condos on top of the hotel the structure would have been quite a bit taller. For comparison:

The W Dallas (252 rooms) has 18 floors of residences above the hotel (33 stories total).

The Omni Fort Worth (608 rooms) also has 18 floors of residences above the hotel (34 stories total).

If there were 18 floors of residences above Omni Dallas the building would be 41 stories tall.

I personally prefer the current height of the building and think it fits in nicely with the neighborhood. We need more mid-rise structures to fill the empty lots downtown. Hopefully the surrounding development comes to fruition to make this area more vibrant.

Agreed. A 70 story tower would have looked almost comically out of place on that lot. In another part of downtown, maybe, but then it wouldn't have been a convention center hotel.

[skys the limit]

Actually the reverse would have been true. Instead of looking out of place it would have made an enormous positive impact on the Downtown Dallas skyline.

And it would have pulled more development towards it, so over time there would be various large skyscrapers surrounding it.

I did a quick cut and paste of a picture of the Griffin Square Hotel that was proposed for the site (60 stories at 913 feet tall, which is only eight feet shorter than the BofA Tower). It is easy to scale because it would be essentially the same height as the BofA building. I took various images of Downtown Dallas and pasted the image into it to show what Downtown would have roughly looked like from differing angles with a spectacular 913 foot tall hotel on that spot.

The next to last image below is an actual image of the current Omni Hotel under construction with the 913 foot tall structure superimposed over where the Omni is located in the image, which is about as precise as one can get.

Now tell me which building looks better on our skyline????

Until Dallas gets away from the "short, fat, squat" mindset for its Downtown buildings we will never become the metropolis that we should be - we are the 4th largest metro in the nation behind New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. We just have to build Downtown and near Downtown buildings that look like we belong in that league!

Dallas does have many very nice skyscrapers that are big city league - don't get me wrong - but so many others instead of being the soaring skyscrapers that they easily could have been are instead "short, fat, squat" buildings - One Arts Plaza immediately comes to mind as well as the Omni Hotel.

Sleek and captivating designs that are more big city in their presence and presentation are Museum Tower (under construction), 1900 Pacific (proposed) and Victory Tower/Mandarin Oriental Hotel (on hold). The Hall Arts District Tower renderings seem to suggest it will fit into the mold of big city design and construction, so we'll keep our fingers crossed there. We need more of those style buildings and less of the squat 25 story buildings, especially when two or three get built of that same general height and design! Build one sleek and tall 50, 60 or 75 story building instead! In fill of 25-35 story buildings is already in place in a large area of Downtown, Uptown and Victory Park, now the taller structures need to fill in the skyline. Then replace most of the remaining parking lots with city parks similar to what has occurred with Main Street Park, is occurring with Woodall Rogers Park and Belo Park, and is planned for Pacific Park.

[x]

[jtk1519]

Originally Posted by skys the limit

Until Dallas gets away from the "short, fat, squat" mindset for its Downtown buildings we will never become the metropolis that we should be - we are the 4th largest metro in the nation behind New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. We just have to build Downtown and near Downtown buildings that look like we belong in that league!

Dallas does have many very nice skyscrapers that are big city league - don't get me wrong - but so many others instead of being the soaring skyscrapers that they easily could have been are instead "short, fat, squat" buildings - One Arts Plaza immediately comes to mind as well as the Omni Hotel.

I could not disagree more. Dallas has plenty of nice shiny skyscrapers. Skyscrapers look good on postcards, but what downtown Dallas needs is not more glass towers, but more mid-rise and human scaled developments that will encourage more street activity. Don't get me wrong, I would welcome another nice shiny tower every now and then, but give me many more "short, fat, squat buildings" to fill in some of the gaps.

[skys the limit]

We just have to agree to disagree.

I certainly support the idea of having a significant base of mid-rise development that creates a certain urban "mass", but without enough of the signature skyscraper structures clearly evident in a city that is aspiring to be called one of the world's greatest it is simply not going to be viewed that way.

Dallas sets at the center of the 4th largest metro in the nation. It needs more of both, but right now in this point in time I would say it needs more of the signature skyscraper element to establish itself in such a way that more of the mid-rise will surely follow.

If you just look at the aerial images in this thread, there are significant numbers of the more dense mid-rise structures already established. If 50, 60 or 75 story skyscrapers were interspersed here and there among those structures the overall fabric, feel and benefit to the City of Dallas would be enormous.

People who espouse living in an "urban" environment want to see signature skyscrapers in a quantity to basically reassure them that they are in fact living in that caliber of an urban city.

No one is saying Dallas doesn't have skyscrapers, but critical mass is the question!

I think what Portland has done is absolutely admirable ... but there is simply no way that Dallas can go backward and become a Portland at this point in time. What Dallas needs to do is weave the best of Portland's street life with a New York City/Los Angeles/Chicago urbanity in a way that it is the best of all worlds.

Your point is well taken and one that I do support, but we will just have to agree to disagree as far as the need for Dallas to embrace the most urban of symbols and that symbol being the sleek and modern skyscraper concentrated in its Downtown core and immediately surrounding areas .... but also with vigorous promotion of street life!

Spread pocket parks all around towering skyscrapers in Downtown Dallas with street vendors and regular events that draw the public .... that generates an urban district that people will want to be a part of!

Otherwise, why wouldn't they just move to the Las Colinas Urban District or Addison Town Circle???? They both have worked at developing what you have described.

Something has to clearly set the Downtown core apart from the suburbs and that ultimately is the concentration of dense skyscraper highrises with quality of life elements embraced as well (street life, cultural amenities, entertainment venues, major sports, major employment, etc.).

I do clearly understand and vigorously support what you are saying, but just in a different way at this particular point in time.

[dollaztx]

Originally Posted by skys the limit

I did a quick cut and paste of a picture of the Griffin Square Hotel that was proposed for the site (60 stories at 913 feet tall, which is only eight feet shorter than the BofA Tower). It is easy to scale because it would be essentially the same height as the BofA building. I took various images of Downtown Dallas and pasted the image into it to show what Downtown would have roughly looked like from differing angles with a spectacular 913 foot tall hotel on that spot.

Do you have a link to the picture? I am interested in seeing it but cannot for some reason.

[skys the limit]

Note: I think the links should be working now. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Actually the reverse would have been true. Instead of looking out of place it would have made an enormous positive impact on the Downtown Dallas skyline.

And it would have pulled more development towards it, so over time there would be various large skyscrapers surrounding it.

I did a quick cut and paste of a picture of the Griffin Square Hotel that was proposed for the site (60 stories at 913 feet tall, which is only eight feet shorter than the BofA Tower). It is easy to scale because it would be essentially the same height as the BofA building. I took various images of Downtown Dallas and pasted the image into it to show what Downtown would have roughly looked like from differing angles with a spectacular 913 foot tall hotel on that spot.

The next to last image below is an actual image of the current Omni Hotel under construction with the 913 foot tall structure superimposed over where the Omni is located in the image, which is about as precise as one can get.

Now tell me which building looks better on our skyline????

Until Dallas gets away from the "short, fat, squat" mindset for its Downtown buildings we will never become the metropolis that we should be - we are the 4th largest metro in the nation behind New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. We just have to build Downtown and near Downtown buildings that look like we belong in that league!

Dallas does have many very nice skyscrapers that are big city league - don't get me wrong - but so many others instead of being the soaring skyscrapers that they easily could have been are instead "short, fat, squat" buildings - One Arts Plaza immediately comes to mind as well as the Omni Hotel.

Sleek and captivating designs that are more big city in their presence and presentation are Museum Tower (under construction), 1900 Pacific (proposed) and Victory Tower/Mandarin Oriental Hotel (on hold). The Hall Arts District Tower renderings seem to suggest it will fit into the mold of big city design and construction, so we'll keep our fingers crossed there.

We need more of those style buildings and less of the squat 25 story buildings, especially when two or three get built of that same general height and design! Build one sleek and tall 50, 60 or 75 story building instead! In fill of 25-35 story buildings is already in place in a large area of Downtown, Uptown and Victory Park, now the taller structures need to fill in the skyline.

Then replace most of the remaining parking lots with parks similar to what has occurred with Main Street Park, is occurring with Woodall Rogers Urban Park and Belo Park, and is planned for Pacific Park.

I just think Dallas missed the boat on this opportunity because with the City going ahead and building the convention hotel and it costing half a billion dollars, something more for the money could have been had than the current Omni Hotel design. An incredibly missed opportunity indeed!

[greywallsareboring]

Those pic are neat and I do think we missed an opportunity, but Dallas has missed too many such opportunities to get upset every time. After walking around downtown yesterday, I still have to say it's better than a parking lot. Also, it does make some visual impact coming into town on 35 north. Too bad it's not taller, but at least museum tower is going up.

[jtk1519]

http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/sh...d.php?p=458819

[skys the limit]

This recent news release by Texas A&M Real Estate Center concerning the Omni Dallas Hotel, still under construction, is pretty encouraging.

It mentions that for 2012, the Omni Dallas has already reached 73% of its booking goal for the entire year!

That would seem to suggest the Omni Dallas is getting off to a really strong start with that level of 2012 pre-booking already under its belt as of July 31, 2011!

That may be the reason why three hotels are now currently under construction in Downtown Dallas (Omni Dallas, NYLO Hotel, and Homewood Suites by Hilton Hotel).

.................................................. ............................................

$500M Omni Dallas nears opening
Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University
(8/19/2011)

DALLAS - Construction is nearing completion on the Dallas Convention Center’s Omni Dallas Hotel. The $500 million city-owned 1001-room hotel is now scheduled for November 2011.

Construction on the skybridge to the convention center and the two ballrooms, which total more than 48,000 sf, is close to completion, and furniture has been installed up to the 17th floor of the 1,001-room hotel.

As of July 31, the Omni Dallas had booked more than 250,000 room nights or 160 conventions through 2017. The hotel has 116,000 room nights booked for 2012, with a goal of 160,000, according to Ed Netzhammer with Omni Hotels.

For the hotel and its five restaurants to open in November, Omni needs to hire 500 people. The hotel has already hired about 150 sales and management positions, but is still looking for ten managers.

Link to article (scroll down some to locate this specific article):

http://recenter.tamu.edu/newstalk/
.