Developers at Loews Hotels and Cordish Cos. "believe they can turn Arlington into a national hot spot for conventions and events" by adding a new hotel, convention center and an apartment complex attached to the Rangers' former home of Globe Life Park, according to James Hartley of the Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM. As part of developments "unanimously approved" yesterday by the city council, Cordish will expand Texas Live!, the entertainment district around the Rangers' new ballpark Globe Life Field, and "introduce a new apartment complex and office building." Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton said that those projects, in addition to the hotel, "will not lead to any new taxes since all funding will come from returning tax money collected from the developments." Developers will begin construction in '20 and finish in '23. Loews "plans to include 888 rooms and 150,000 square feet of meeting, convention and exhibition space in the new hotel." Loews Exec VP Alexander Tisch said that the hotel will "stop Arlington from losing business from events" like future Super Bowls and World Series. Some of that exhibition space will "come from the underground parking and tunnels of Globe Life Park, which this project will transform into convention, exhibition and meeting space." The city also "believes the hotel will boost booking at AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field and the city's esports arena" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 12/18). Cordish's $200M office project at the Rangers' former ballpark will be "called Stadium Lofts" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/18).
