Developers hoping to restore a historic hotel on the edge of downtown Dallas are seeking $41 million in incentives from the city.
The long-vacant Cabana Hotel along Stemmons Freeway was torn down for renovations more than three years ago. However, no progress was made in the restoration of the more than 60-year-old hotel, which is located across the highway from Victory Park.
Now, Cabana Sycamore Development Inc. wants to convert the 10-story building into affordable rental units.
The project will offer “160 multifamily housing units (64 income-restricted units and 96 market-rate units),” according to a development agreement that the City Council is expected to consider at a meeting this week.
Developers of the $116.3 million project are seeking funding from the Design District Tax Increment Financing District. TIF directs property tax revenues in designated areas toward improvements aimed at attracting new private investment.
“The restoration and adaptive reuse of the former Cabana Hotel is expected to become a promotional project for the southern Design District,” according to the council's agenda. “To date, 3,041 homes have been completed or are under construction in the Design District TIF District. However, only 63 homes (2%) are subject to income restrictions.”
Cabana's redevelopment includes removing a portion of the existing parking garage, adding new construction, and opening up the rear of the hotel along Slocum Street for improved pedestrian connectivity. It is.
Sycamore Strategies is also working on an affordable rental community called Cypress Creek on Forest Lane in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas.
The Cabana Hotel was built in 1962 by Jay Sarno, the Las Vegas hotelier who developed the landmark Caesars Palace. Originally called the Cabana Motor Hotel, in its heyday it hosted a parade of celebrities from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Richard Nixon.
The cabana was closed to guests in the 1970s and then converted into a minimum-security county jail.
In 2017, Dallas County sold the building to Farmers Branch-based Centurion American Development Group, which plans to restore it as a hotel in a project estimated to cost $100 million. It was standing. However, the redevelopment plan fell through.
Davidson Vogel Real Estate is offering this historic high-rise for sale.
