For Lakeside chonology see Lakeside 1994 Denied

NOTE:  The newspaper article "Hotel On Hold" follows this hotel history summary.

           1.  The Stewart family purchased the land in the 1980's, and sold the "hotel parcel" to Hines during the early 2000's.  The Stewarts had attempted to build a "new urbanism" development in the 1990's but were denied by the Lipscomb council and community opposition.

          2. The Mayor Lori DeLuca administration invested $23MM in infrastructure to attract business, that under the innovative 380 would pay back the infrastructure. 

          2.  In 2006 The Jody Smith administration approved condominiums for the hotel as "accessory use ".  On 2007 the hotel was lowered to 4 star with other changes, which council denied.  

          3.  The Stewarts wanted to use their personal consultant to do a cost/benefit analysis for the entire area and proceed with their own version of mixed used development, even though the Town had not yet acted on the implement the 2006 Master Plan Steering Committee's recommendation to hire a consultant to study and draft a mixed used document for Flower Mound.   

          4.  Also at this time, the second of the three development entities (Cole McDowell) who took over the Riverwalk project was developing its own standards at the time known as the "Central Business District".  Both areas were aggressively competing for town attention.  The Smith council called Riverwalk the "Crown Jewel of Flower Mound."  (Centurion American has since taken over the Riverwalk project which now has failed to live up to expectations in spite of continuous waivers and incentives.)

          5.  At the time of the Smith council meeting in this article, council was expecting to see a proposal for a hotel project with a condo component which has been approved earlier.  Instead, the Stewarts changed the design to an 18-story condo tower next to the nine story hotel, and the hotel design and quality was unacceptable. 

​          6.  In 2012 the Hayden administration not only has allowed the Stewart family what it wanted to do all along, plus, it has allowed apartments and a higher percentage of residential, neon signs, and reduce public access to the taxpayer funded roads.  

          A few days before the May council elections, the Hayden administration promoted yet another rendition of the hotel  and calls it the "Pearl of the Peninsula".  But since it is in Tarrant County the Town will not receive the tax benefits but will be responsible for accomodating the schools portion.  In 2012 he Hayden administration also changed SMARTGrowth by removing the schools criteria portion for Lakeside, as LISD said it would fail the SMARTGrowth schools criteria according to Town/LISD documents shared among the public throughout spring 2015.

Flower Mound Messenger / May 25, 2007 / Cecile Satin, Staff Writer

Hotel on Hold

          The construction of the Lakeside Resort Hotel will be delayed for at least six to eight months due to “deficiencies” in the architectural design, a project manager for Hines said on Friday.

       “   As we went into the design and submitted the bid, we got feedbacks from contractors and identified deficiencies in the design,” said Hines Project Manager Heath Johnson.

          Johnson said architectural changes will affect the entire structure, but some basic elements such as the lazy river and parking out in the front will remain the same. Hines hired a new architect with Atlanta-based firm Rabun Rasche Rector Reece, the original architect was designed by Dallas based Three Architecture and Boka Powell.

       “   We believe that we will be better off at the end of the day,” Johnson said.

          Council members Paul Stone and Tim Trotter said they were disappointed with the delay but happy to see that Hines was not rushing into the project.

          “It is a shame it has to be delayed, but hopefully it is still going to happen,” Stone said. “It is better that we wait to get something good than rushing into it.”

          Town officials said that the proposed changes will need to undergo staff and council review.

          “We are still in the discussion stage as to what types of changes they want to make, if it fits into the master plan,” Trotter said. “No changes have been made at this time.”

          If the changes are significant, Hines will have to submit a new site plan application with the town, which will be reviewed by staff, planning and zoning and will go to council for approval.

          “We will work with the town on the structure, the materials and the site plan approval process,” Johnson said.

          The town recently hired Gateway Planning Group to design a village-style center of homes and businesses for a 163-acre area in the south-west corner of the 1,500-acre Lakeside Business District. Town officials also appointed a 10-member committee to guide the firm in evaluating development opportunities. However, the new development plans have forced the town to postpone the Flower Mound Lakeside Stakeholders Committee meetings until the hotel’s new development plans are finalized.

          Mayor Smith did not return phone calls by the Messenger on Friday. But she noted in a press release the committee will, “postpone meeting until updated plans for the hotel have been submitted because the four-star facility will serve as the anchor for our Lakeside District and will set the tone for future development.”