TULSA, Okla. — An ongoing story in Tulsa is the need for a large hotel next to the recently renamed Arvest Convention Center downtown. The project is entering a new stage, with three firms now chosen to submit their concepts.
2 News Oklahoma’s Douglas Braff spoke with the city about potential gains.
“We've had to turn away business because we literally do not have enough rooms in the city,” said Renee McKenny.
McKenney, the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s senior vice president of tourism, told us Tulsa missed out on 154 events between July 2023 and June 2024 because of that. Some of them would have been big ones held at the convention center.
2 News counted 14 hotels within the downtown highway loop, with at least five of them opening within the past 10 years.
“What we're seeing is the limited service in the boutique hotels, which are wonderful,” said McKenney. “But what we need to have is an anchor hotel, that hotel that would be attached to the convention center.”
In a massive step toward its goal of building a 650-room hotel, the city has now asked three development firms to pitch their ideas. They are Hines Interests Limited Partnership, Matthews Southwest Hospitality, and Portman Holdings.
The hotel would sit where the current police headquarters is at 6th and Frisco.
As for what’s key to picking the final design, the city’s chief economic development director, Erran Persley, told 2 News, “It's gonna be a lot of things."
"It's gonna be how does the design work for the city? How does it speak to what is truly Tulsa, possibly with financing, how's it gonna be structured, how you deal with parking, things of that nature as well.”
Oklahoma City faced a similar dilemma years ago, eventually opening a new hotel convention center next to the Paycom Center called Omni.
Asked if competition with T-Town’s intrastate rival weighs on his mind, Persley replied, “You know, this is honest truth, I never compare Tulsa to Oklahoma City.”
“We're gonna make a product that everyone else wants to emulate,” he went on to say. “We're not trying to follow anyone.”
Regarding the same topic, McKenney said, “Well, I think Oklahoma City, obviously, there's that competitive spirit of they've done some really great things with their maps program, and we really admire that. But on top of that, we have our own just image right now.”
As for who’s paying for Tulsa’s roughly $390 million hotel project, Persley said, “Right now we are gonna finance this through a TIF program. … So, no new taxes on the taxpaying citizens of Tulsa. So, I say: Read my lips. No new taxes.”
“This not just a hotel project,” he added. “We envision this whole area being different and better, and not just for visitors, for the residents of Tulsa as well.”
McKenney told us they’ll pick which developer to partner with in about 90 days, saying shovels should be in the ground a year after that in 2026. A grand opening is expected sometime in 2029.
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