Dallas Business Journal
By Mitchell Parton
A new hotel has broken ground near the Southwestern Medical District and Dallas Love Field airport, this one taking on two brands.
Construction recently started on a 215-room dual-branded Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott at 1807 W. Mockingbird Lane, according to Type Six Design and Development, a Grapevine-based design and engineering firm assisting with the project.
The hotel is designed both for visitors to the nearby Parkland and UT Southwestern hospitals as well as travelers flying into Love Field.
"The whole idea behind the combination hotel is to hit multiple audiences," said James Lusty, founding partner of Type Six. "It's geared toward not only your business travel, for all the local businesses, but also to hit families and your more extended-stay traveler, which is what the Residence Inn is."
The hotel will be under the umbrella of Hirn Jetha and Kamlesh Kurani of a company called Dreamliner Global, which has plans for multiple hotels in North Texas and Austin, according to Type Six. Arkansas-based G&G Hospitality will manage the hotel.
Attempts to reach the owners were unsuccessful.
Dreamliner Love Field LLC — an entity connected with Kurani, with a mailing address in Fort Worth — acquired the property in November and took out a $33.2 million loan from an entity connected with Atlanta-based investment firm Peachtree Group, according to Dallas County records.
Site work on the vacant lot has started and construction is planned to take about 18 months. The City of Dallas issued building permits in December for about $20.8 million of work at the property, according to city documents. Soma Construction of Coppell is listed with the city as the contractor.
Lusty said combination hotels have become a trend in hotel development over the last five to 10 years as they can squeeze in more rooms and hit different markets on a single site, saving on the construction costs that would come with an additional property. The hotel will have about twice as many rooms as a single Courtyard or Residence Inn but with shared back-of-house spaces and amenities.
"With the price of land especially right now in this market, trying to maximize the square footages on the acreage of land, it really does allow them to fit a lot of program on a smaller site to increase that revenue," said Connor Walker, lead designer and project manager for Type Six.
Type Six previously designed another hotel on the site for previous owners, who didn't go through with the project because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The firm was recommended to the new development group, Walker said.
The project adds to growth in this part of Dallas. Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center have announced plans for a $5 billion pediatric health campus nearby. A bit farther west, a five-story, 68,000-square-foot TownePlace Suites by Marriott hotel has been proposed at 7600 W. John Carpenter Freeway.
"It's a huge growth area and we're hoping that this [Marriott] hotel will help with that growth effort," Lusty said, adding that the project brings life to a property that has sat empty and largely unused.
The hotel projects come as the city's hospitality business has bounced back from the pandemic, and big events are expected to attract huge crowds in the coming years.
In 2023, Dallas urban hotel occupancy had recovered to about 93% of the level seen in 2019, according to data from CoStar. A close-up look at downtown hotel finances can be seen in a recent S&P credit analysis of the downtown Sheraton hotel ahead a refinance loan.
The future redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center is expected to further boost the city's tourism economy. Big events such as April's solar eclipse have brought large crowds downtown, and 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in Arlington are expected to have a similar impact.
About Type Six
Centered on service, uncompromised in design, Type Six Design & Development is an innovative, full-service architecture firm with proven expertise in retail, multi-family, office, and hospitality industries. Providing a comprehensive approach to any scale of project, the diverse team led by James Lusty and Hayes Hinkle, delivers a client-driven experience focused on exceeding customer expectations. Based in the Arlington Texas Entertainment District since 2015, the cornerstone of Type Six is simple: going to the next level to provide next-level results.
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