City Changer

New convention hotel brings talk of a sweetheart deal, a Texas-shaped pool & anurban look

Construction on the new Marriott Marquis is slated to begin in 2014 and has aprojected completion date of spring 2016.
Rendering courtesy of Morris Architects
Designed by Houston firm Morris Architects, the hotel will build off the successof Discover Green and concentrate on fostering public space.
Rendering courtesy of Morris Architects
Oh yeah . . . and the Marriott will have a pool shaped like Texas.
Rendering courtesy of Morris Architects
A public plaza will mark the hotel entrance, breaking from the traditional darkvehicle drop-off zones of yore.
Rendering courtesy of Morris Architects
In the next decade, developers hope the project will transform the area into oneof the nation's top convention destinations.
Rendering courtesy of Morris Architects

In a effort to create more hotel rooms within walking distance of the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston city council is blessing a deal to build a new Marriott Marquis on Avenida de las Americas between Rusk and Walker.

Situated across from Discovery Green, the $266-million hotel will be connected via skyway to the convention facility, bringing 1,000 rooms to an area long short on lodging space.

Officials with the RIDA Development Corporation and city government group Houston First Corporation — the entities leading the project — say that the building will produce more than 1,800 construction jobs, as crews break ground in 2014. When the hotel opens in spring 2016, another 700 jobs are expected to be added to the local hospitality industry.

Directly north of the GRB between Rusk and Capital, Houston First will build a parking garage with 1,800 spaces to accommodate guests and downtown visitors.

According to company vice president of acquisition Luke Charlton, RIDA proposed one of the lowest municipal incentive packages of the 11 bidders on the hotel development. City council members approved the following for RIDA:

$27 million in grant money from the city
$31.7 million land donation from Houston First, which will purchase the site from the city
city rebates for sales, hotel, property and beverage taxes for the next 20 years (not including METRO and ISD taxes)
state rebates for sales and hotel taxes for next decade
RIDA will lease garage space from Houston First for roughly $1.2 million a year
RIDA will own the building

"While Houston is the fourth largest city in the country, it doesn't have the reputation as a convention destination," Charlton says. "With the Marriott, though, we hope to get meeting planners to see the city in a new light. Building on the work Houston First has done throughout the GRB area like Discovery Green, we plan to truly elevate the city into the national convention market."

Different times

Critics of the Marriott package frown upon the idea of handing over $58.7 in cash and land incentives to RIDA — noting that, a decade ago, the city funded a GRB expansion, the Hilton-Americas and Discovery Green using $316 million in public bonds without offering tens of millions in direct grants to developers.

Houston First CEO of hotels Peter McStravick tells CultureMap that the city corporation is in a different place than it was in the early 2000s.

"While are current financials are strong, we simply don't have the same collateral as we did ten years ago," McStravick says. "All of our bond leverage is still locked up in the Hilton-era projects, which is why we needed a developer to front a significant portion of the funding."

The total Marriot project is projected to cost roughly $324 million, according to McStravick. Of that, RIDA will pay the $266 million to build the hotel with the city balancing out the rest with its $58.7 in cash and land incentives.

Preliminary designs

Leading the design of the new building is Houston firm Morris Architects, which will work with both RIDA and Marriott throughout 2013 to devise a welcoming environment that meshes with the surrounding cityscape.

"This can't just be another 1,000 rooms. The project needs to transform the area and feeling around the convention center," architect Doug Childers says. "This is a very open urban hotel, rather than a closed-off island."

"We've decided to design the hotel from the ground level up, making sure the busy public area will connect with the park both visually and literally."

As such, an open public plaza across from Discovery Green will mark the hotel entrance rather than a dark vehicle drop-off zone.

"We've decided to design the hotel from the ground level up, making sure the busy public area will connect with the park both visually and literally. The building will have activity on all four corners with a sports bar, coffee shop, restaurant and possibly a local retail space."

As an added bonus, future Marriott guests will get to experience firsthand what is sure to be one of the city's kitschiest landmarks to date . . . a gigantic swimming pool in the shape of Texas.

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THE AMERICAN DREAM

How long it takes to save for a home down payment in Houston

iStock

Houstonians don't have to save long to afford a down payment.

Saving for a down payment remains one of the biggest barriers to homeownership nationwide, but a new report from Realtor.com shows San Antonio area buyers face a far shorter wait than most Americans.

According to the real estate site’s 2025 analysis, the typical U.S. household needs seven years to save for a standard down payment, a notable improvement from the 12-year peak in 2022. Still, the timeline remains roughly double the pre-pandemic norm, reflecting higher home prices, larger down payments, and lower household savings rates.

Houston, however, stood out as one of the most accessible major metros in the nation. The Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro boasted one of the shortest time sto save for a down payment among the nation’s 50 largest markets, with households needing just 3.5 years to reach a typical down payment, according to the study.

The report found that Houston’s median down payment from January through November was $14,927. A median household income of $83,452 was estimated to produce an annual savings of $4,228. Notably, San Antonio, the only other Texas city included in the report, had the shortest time to save for a down payment at just 1.3 years.

Nationally, the time needed to save has shortened as home price growth cooled and affordability modestly improved. Still, saving for a down payment takes significantly longer than it did before the pandemic.

“Higher home prices and intensified competition have pushed typical down payments higher, at the same time that inflation and rising household expenses have reduced savings rates,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, in a release. “Although conditions have improved since 2022, today’s timeline shows that saving for a home takes meaningfully longer than it did before the pandemic, especially in high-cost markets.”

Lower savings rates have played a key role. The U.S. personal savings rate has averaged 5.1 percent of income so far in 2025, down from the pre-pandemic norm of 6.5 percent, limiting how quickly households can build funds for upfront housing costs. Meanwhile, the typical down payment has more than doubled over the past six years — rising from about $13,900 in the third quarter of 2019 to $30,400 in the third quarter of 2025.

In high-cost coastal metros, the impact is far more severe. Saving for a down payment can take 20 to more than 35 years in California cities like San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego, effectively sidelining many first-time and moderate-income buyers.

“In high-cost markets, the typical down payment alone exceeds a full year of household income,” said Hannah Jones, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst. “That reality makes homeownership feel unattainable for many buyers, particularly younger households trying to enter the market for the first time.”

Despite those challenges, the report notes that roughly three-quarters of Americans still consider homeownership part of the American dream. Realtor.com says easing rents could help first-time buyers save more, while repeat buyers may use accumulated savings to reduce loan balances and manage higher monthly payments.

“Saving consistently, even in small amounts, is a meaningful first step toward homeownership,” Jones said. “In today’s market, building that financial cushion can make a real difference when buyers are ready to act.”

home market economy down payments home ownership real estate