New • In New Midway, between Dallas and Fort Worth, Opryland Hotel Texas broke ground this past summer for a 1,508-room hotel and convention center. When it opens in August 2003, the hotel will feature an atrium covering four acres of indoor gardens, Texas-themed restaurants, shops, and more than 400,000 square feet of event space.

New • In Richardson, heart of the North Dallas “Telecom Corridor,” the Renaissance Richardson Hotel is slated to open in May. The 337-room luxury property is adjacent to the Richardson Performing Arts and Corporate Presentation Center, scheduled to open in 2002. The property will have 30,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 12,400-square-foot ballroom, and rooms will be equipped with high-speed Internet access.

New • In Austin, demolition began in October to make room for an 800-room convention hotel being developed by Hilton Hotels and Landmark Organization across from the convention center's new expansion. Construction is expected to take 32 months.

New • Theresa Greer is the owner of San Antonio's newest historic luxury hotel, the Havana Riverwalk Inn, which opened in spring 1999 in the Havana Building, a Mediterranean Revival structure dating to 1914. The Havana's 27 rooms — no two of which are alike — range from 180 to 617 square feet.

New • Construction began this past summer on Carlson Park Hill Country, a 27-acre development near San Antonio that will include a 230-room Radisson Resort, 108 condominiums, and 74 townhouses.

New • Houston's new downtown convention center hotel will add 1,200 rooms to the city by 2003.

New • The Holiday Inn Northwest San Antonio converted to a full-service Marriott in December. The San Antonio Marriott Northwest has 296 rooms and 9,000 square feet of meeting space.

New • Irving has retained PKF Consulting to manage the RFP process for a new 450-room hotel to be built next to the planned 350,000-square-foot Irving Convention Center in the Las Colinas area.

New • San Antonio has given the go-ahead to a 213-room luxury property, the first new construction in the Houston Street downtown revitalization project. The property is expected to open in summer 2002.

New • In San Antonio, the 508-room Westin La Cantera Resort will soon open a new 18-hole, 7,000-yard Arnold Palmer — designed golf course, the resort's third course.

New • Hilton opened two new Texas properties in January, the 263-room Hilton Austin Airport and the 224-room Hilton Dallas/Park Cities. They offer 20,000 and 8,000 square feet of convention space, respectively.