June 27–McALLEN ? A critical piece of the McAllen Convention Center development fell into place this week as investors and city leaders turned earth on a $20 million, six-story Embassy Suites hotel that will be located on the grounds of the McAllen Convention Center.
“This great new hotel is a great business asset for McAllen and the Rio Grande Valley,” McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said in a news release following the ground-breaking ceremony on Monday.
“It’s the first major convention center-hotel project…south of San Antonio that puts the two together in one location,:” he said.
For awhile, the equation of hotel and convention center seemed elusive in McAllen and contributed to a $1.5 million operating loss at the end of the 2012 fiscal year.
Developers had pledged three hotels for the complex, but none had broken ground until this week’s event, which will lead to a 150-room, full-service hotel with all the amenities, including an indoor and outdoor swimming pool and spa; a full service restaurant; a ballroom; and executive meeting rooms.
All of this will be located within walking distance of the convention center itself, as well as walking distance to the nearby Palms Crossing, a major retail shopping center.
