Cawley, Alamo Manhattan Plan $50M Uptown Dallas Hotel

Two Dallas real estate firms are teeing up a new hotel development in Uptown.

Cawley Partners and Alamo Manhattan acquired a small office building at 2909 Cole Avenue with plans to replace it with a roughly $50 million hotel. The partners picked up the 27,000-square-foot property with the intent to keep it operating as an office for now before tearing it down, Cawley Partners CEO Bill Cawley told the Dallas Morning News.

The companies are working with the city on a rezoning for the site, and groundbreaking is targeted for about 18 months from now, pending entitlements. The planned hotel would have about 140 rooms, and Cawley told the outlet that the group is already in discussions with two or three potential operators.

“With the growth in Uptown, we think there’s a shortage of quality, moderately priced hotel rooms,” Cawley said. “That’s the market we are going after.”

Dallas Central Appraisal District records show the Cole Avenue building was completed in 1981 and is valued at roughly $3.8 million for tax purposes. The sale price was not disclosed. Cawley said total development costs are expected to come in at $50.1 million.

The deal marks another collaboration between Cawley Partners and Alamo Manhattan. Last year, the firms teamed up to acquire the five-story, 76,000-square-foot office building at 3400 Carlisle Street, built in 1985. Cawley Partners oversees management and leasing at that property.

Alamo Manhattan has built a track record in Dallas multifamily and hospitality, including the Marriott Dallas hotel on Fairmount Street. President Matt Segrest described the Uptown project as a chance to fill a niche in the local lodging market with a select-service, extended-stay concept aimed at business and longer-term travelers.

The hotel plan also lands amid an active stretch for Cawley Partners. The firm recently acquired the nearly 106,000-square-foot Harwood No. 1 office building at 2651 North Harwood Street, formerly known as the old Rolex building. The seller was First United Trust, and while the purchase price was not disclosed, deed records show Cawley Partners secured a $29.5 million loan to finance the deal.

The Harwood property, which opened in 1984 and helped kick off the Harwood District, had fallen into foreclosure from developer Harwood International. Cawley said the firm plans to invest about $10 million in upgrades.

Beyond Uptown, Cawley Partners is also a co-owner of the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, a retail property that’s been floated as a possible site for a future Dallas Stars arena.— Eric Weilbacher