Loews Buys Hotel Next to $550M, 900-key it is Building in Arlington

Loews Hotels topped out its $550 million, 888-key hotel near the home of the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers this week, and it just bought 311 keys north of the Rangers’ ballpark.

The corporation purchased the Sheraton Arlington Hotel, about a mile away, where it plans to build another hotel and a parking garage, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross confirmed.

Three years after the Texas Rangers opened Globe Life Field in Arlington, surrounding development is taking shape with the Live! by Loews hotel, a luxury apartment complex and unique office offerings, along with retail and entertainment.

Arlington’s hotel market fell short of demand when AT&T Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2011. The suburb of nearly 400,000 held limited luxury offerings, and hotels in Dallas and Fort Worth housed most of the visitors, who had to commute to the game.

The landscape has evolved since then, and Loews Arlington Hotel and Arlington Convention Center opens next year in this burgeoning $4 billion entertainment district simply called The District.

Construction started in 2021 on the Loews Arlington, which will feature a man-made beach, two pools and five restaurants anchored by Houston-based restaurateur Benjamin Berg’s Soy Cowboy.

“People there to spend a night in either of the stadiums are going to want to spend a night or a day or two in the hotel just experiencing the cutting edge food and beverage that will be unique to the destination and the Arlington district,” said Alex Tisch, president and CEO of Loews Hotels.

The hotel and convention center will open Feb. 15, and conferences have been booked through 2029, Tisch said. The hotel has booked 150,000 room nights with five months to go before its opening, Bisnow reported.

A sky bridge will connect the Loews Arlington Hotel and Arlington Convention Center to Live! By Loews, a $150 million, 300-room hotel that opened in 2019. Both are 4-star hotels and the result of a partnership between Loews and the Texas Rangers. The success of Live! by Loews has proven the demand for lodging and conference space, Tisch said.

“Every time either of the stadiums are filled, we’re pretty full,” he said. “And most days the stadiums are empty, we have big conferences in the hotel.”

Aside from AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field, there is Choctaw Stadium, the Rangers’ former playing field that now houses the North Texas Soccer Club and the Dallas Jackals rugby team.

Within Choctaw Stadium, redeveloped by the Baltimore-based Cordish Companies and Texas Rangers executives, is Spark Coworking’s newly built out office space.

Then there is the multifamily piece.

One Rangers Way, a 300-unit apartment complex, opens in late 2024. The luxury development is a partnership between Cordish, the Texas Rangers and the City of Arlington. Rents range from $1,400 for a studio to more than $5,000 for a two-bedroom penthouse.

It features floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the mega attractions, as well as a pool with a swim-up bar and an expansive amenity deck.

About 5 percent of units have already been leased, said Jamie Adams, a broker with Zang / Adams Real Estate and Compass Real Estate.

About a mile northeast of the hotels is the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park, and a mile north is the Hurricane Harbor water park. The National Medal of Honor Museum is also under construction in the area. Originally expected to open in 2024, it is now scheduled to be completed in early 2025.

The Esports Stadium Arlington & Expo Center is near the old Sheraton Arlington Hotel, where Loews expects to start construction near the end of the year.

By the time AT&T Stadium hosts FIFA World Cup games in 2026, Arlington will be ready to reap the profits for itself instead of losing business to its metropolitan neighbors.

“As the interest in Arlington increases, our capacity to deal with these large crowds and longer hotel stays is increasing as well,” the Mayor Jim Ross said.