Nov. 09–MCALLEN — Nine months after plans to build an Embassy Suites collapsed, McAllen started soliciting new proposals Thursday for a full-service hotel near the Convention Center.

Developers have already pledged to build three hotels — a Holiday Inn, a La Quinta Inn and a Cambria Suites, which remains subject to negotiation — near the Convention Center. None have broken ground.

Without an adjacent hotel, many meeting planners will not book the Convention Center, said Nancy Millar, director of the McAllen Convention and Visitors Bureau.

More than 30 convention planners have rejected McAllen after learning the Convention Center doesn’t have an adjacent hotel, Millar said. Even when the Convention and Visitors Bureau offers the Convention Center’s meeting rooms without charge, some still turn McAllen down.

“It’s going to be a tremendous benefit once we have a convention center hotel or a hotel on site,” Millar said.

McAllen lost nearly $1.5 million operating the Convention Center during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2012, according to the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. To cover the annual operating deficit, McAllen pumps hotel tax dollars into the Convention Center.

Several problems, including drug-related violence across northern Mexico, which crushed cross-border trips for meals and entertainment; the recession, which prompted many corporations to rethink convention travel; and the shifting convention market, which moved smaller meetings to stand-alone convention hotels, have contributed to the Convention Center’s problems.

Building a hotel would help attract more meetings and hopefully stem the red ink.

“We still have some conventions, some associations that have been approached about coming here and they basically say ‘Check with us again once you have hotels open up near the property,” said Convention Center Director Omar Rodriguez.

Additionally, the hotel would offer a new option for Mexican shoppers and business travelers near McAllen’s growing southwest side, Rodriguez said. New restaurants and a high-end development have started popping up along the south side of Expressway 83/Interstate 2 in the past year.

Published Thursday afternoon, McAllen’s formal request for proposals offers developers a nearly 5.4-acre property valued at $2.1 million. The document also lists a slew of hotel requirements, ranging from fresh flowers to professional, courteous staff.

The deadline for proposals is Dec. 3.

dhendricks@themonitor.com