A 23-story downtown Dallas hotel with a turbulent recent history is up for grabs, adding another sizable listing to the hospitality market.
The 291-key Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown, located at 1015 Elm Street and just a block from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, hit the market with a $55 million asking price, the Dallas Business Journal reported. Broker Salman Tabani of Tabani Realty first told the Dallas Morning News of the development.
The seller is TOG Hotels Downtown Dallas, tied to California-based TOG Hotels, owned by Terry Tognazzini, who has owned the property since 2007. The hotel, last valued at $17.15 million by the Dallas Central Appraisal District — a figure that often diverges widely from market pricing — is among downtown’s older branded assets. Built in 1969, the Crowne Plaza underwent more than $10 million in upgrades in 2020 aimed at keeping pace with newer competitors.
The last couple of years have brought unflattering attention. Last summer, ownership abruptly canceled the DaddyLand Festival, a gay music event booked at the hotel, and directed attendees to leave. The move came after hotel staff received guest complaints about the gay-themded event, reportedly from members of two collegiate sorority groups that were also holding events on the property at the time.
The hotel’s ownership entity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February of this year, a case Tabani said it expects to conclude this month. A restructuring brought in a new management company, Arizona-based Universal Hospitality Solutions, and a new general manager, Joseph Jennings.
Despite the rough patches, buyer appetite for downtown Dallas hospitality assets hasn’t dimmed. Earlier this year, an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners paid roughly $111 million for the Fairmont Dallas, a deal that signaled investor confidence in the city’s convention-driven demand and its post-pandemic travel recovery.
The Crowne Plaza’s proximity to the convention center — and to redevelopment efforts swirling around the southern edge of downtown — could bolster interest, even as rising operating expenses and softening business travel weigh on underwriting. FIFA will use the existing convention halls as its International Broadcast Center during the World Cup next year all while developers work through the first phase of the project known as Inspire Dallas, a multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the convention center at 650 South Griffin Street.
The sale would represent a sizable step-up from its county appraisal and a reset for a hotel that’s cycled through controversy, capital projects and operational shifts in just a few years.
— Eric Weilbacher
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