Irving News

October 9, 2009

Irving, Texas – Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Sava Holdings, Ltd. and Aquila Lodging, LLC have announced the opening of Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North in Irving, Texas, the sixth Element hotel to open globally and the second in Texas.

Inspired by Westin Hotels and Resorts, Element invites guests to check-in to a new travel experience with comfortable public spaces, modern style and environmentally-friendly design. Owned by Sava Holdings, Ltd. and managed by Aquila Lodging, LLC, the newly constructed 123-room hotel is among the first in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for high-performance buildings.

“Every aspect of Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North is designed to help guests recharge and be at their best while they are traveling,” said Brian McGuinness, SVP for specialty select brands for Starwood. “Our guests will be able to experience a whole new perspective on longer stay travel, while enjoying easy access to the leading businesses, and the best shopping, dining and recreation in the Dallas metro area.”

The hotel’s 123 guest rooms may be customized to meet client needs with the multi-purpose, modular furniture, swiveling flat-screen televisions, large desks with open shelving and custom-designed closets. Rooms also offer a fully equipped kitchen that features modern, ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and all the utensils necessary to prepare a gourmet meal.

The hotel also features more than 1,600 square feet of meeting space, an integrated technology center and library, as well as cafe seating, a workspace and a flexible lobby space.

“The Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North provides travelers with a new eco-friendly alternative for extended stays, including the benefit of easy access to DFW International Airport and other Metroplex attractions,” said Suhas Naik, principal of Sava Holdings, Ltd. “I am confident that our exceptional staff, coupled with our unparalleled first-class accommodations and unique eco-friendly and healthy lifestyle offerings, will deliver a superior guest experience for both business and leisure travelers visiting our hotel.”

Aquila Lodging owns and manages Aloft, Candlewood Suites, Element, Holiday Inn and Staybridge Suites.

Sava Holdings Ltd. is a venture investment company with various projects in Texas, Florida and India. The company also provides management services for the ventures it invests in. The main focus of Sava Holdings is diversity in investment to include acquisition, development and management of real estate, business ventures in the manufacturing, retail and service fields. Sava Holdings was formed by Ajay Kothari and Suhas Naik with a vision to create a multifaceted investment base for investors. The base consists of real estate investment, development and management not only in the U.S., but also Europe, Southeast Asia and East Africa.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 960 properties in approximately 97 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following brands: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft, and Element. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. 

Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North to Celebrate Opening with

“Vine Cutting” Celebration – First Element to Open in D/FW

New Longer Stay Hotel is first in DFW to Pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s

LEED Certification for High-Performance Buildings

WHAT:                  Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North hotel will host a special Vine Cutting celebration to commence the official opening of the hotel in Irving.  Irving Mayor Herbert Gears will present the hotel with a proclamation and provide remarks on what the addition of the Element means for the Irving-Las Colinas community. 

Inspired by Westin^® Hotels & Resorts, the 123-room Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North hotel is the first Element to open in D/FW, the second in Texas and the sixth globally.   The hotel is also the first in D/FW to pursue the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification for High-Performance Buildings.  Element invites guests to check-in to a new travel experience with comfortable public spaces, modern style and environmentally-friendly design. 

WHEN:                 Thursday, October 8, 2009

                                10:30 a.m. – program

                                11:00 a.m. – hotel tours

WHERE:                3550 W. IH 635 (southwest corner of Belt Line Road / IH 635)

                                Irving, TX

WHO:                    Irving Mayor Herbert Gears and City of Irving staff and council

                                Maura Gast, Irving Convention & Visitors Bureau and staff

Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce representatives

                                Greater Irving-Las Colinas business and community leaders

                                Sava Holdings, Ltd. representatives (owner)

                                Aquila Lodging, LLC representatives (management company)

                                Hotel staff

PHOTOS/             Photos of the commemorative “vine cutting;” presentation of proclamation by Mayor Gears;

INTERVIEWS:                interviews with hotel management and ownership and other community leaders.

MEDIA                  Shannon Hopper, Element Hotel

CONTACTS:         972.929.9800, shannon.hopper@elementdfwnorth.com

-OR-

Molli Samuels, Cooksey Communications                                           

972.580.0662, x22, molli@cookseypr.com

Irving, TX June 30, 2009: Gondola Adventures, Inc. is pleased to welcome a new gondola manager to our Irving, Texas location. matthew Schenk is orginally from Idaho and a recent graduate of Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA with a degree in Communications and an emphasis in Digital Video Editing.  He is relocating from California to Irving to manage the gondola operation on Lake Carolyn and the Mandalay Canals.

NYLO Dallas/Las Colinas opened its doors today with a ribbon cutting, reception and tours. The ultra-modern hotel is finishing up construction but welcomed its first guests last night. The largest of the three NYLO properties, the Las Colinas location is on Royal Lane just west of MacArthur Boulevard.

The grand opening included a few words from Maura Gast, executive director of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, a proclamation read by council member Rose Cannaday, subbing for Mayor Herbert Gears who is in Washington, D.C., and placing items in a time capsule outside the hotel’s front doors.

Guests then went on tours of the facility while sipping champagne and enjoying elegant hors d’oeuvres

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY Updated 8h 45m ago

Gleaming high-rises and dense development in white-picket-fence suburbia?

From Anaheim and Fremont in California to Irving, Texas; Queens, N.Y.; and Arlington, Va., development has taken a dramatic turn from cul-de-sacs to city centers that mix residences, businesses and entertainment spots.

Suburbs that had not allowed development to rise too high above the single-family homes that have shaped suburbia for decades are beginning to embrace the “urban” in “suburban.”

The trend reflects the priorities of the times: saving energy, reducing traffic congestion, saving land, and promoting walking and mass transit.

In some areas, such developments also are a response to Asian influences subtly reshaping some American suburbs. The U.S. Asian population is booming and in these dismal economic times, much of the capital available comes from Asia. As a result, developments appealing to Asian sensibilities have real potential.

“It is a sociological thing,” says John Clifford, a principal with GreenbergFarrow, an architecture and planning firm based in Atlanta. “People who come from Asia are very used to high-density living. Asians have been very comfortable in high-rises for a long time. So they copy it when they come.”

Clifford sees the Asian influence in developments in Queens and parts of New Jersey where Indian populations have grown.

Rapid pace of growth

The trend has played out in a big way in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, where the number of minorities soared past a million this decade — most of them Chinese and South Asian immigrants.

“Providing more choices for people in suburbia that allow them to lead a healthier life with less impact on the environment is a really great thing,” says Ellen Dunham-Jones, architecture professor at Georgia Tech and co-author of Retrofitting Suburbia.

The Asian population in the USA grew 30% this decade to 15.5 million, and it has soared in some suburbs. In Gwinnett County outside Atlanta, the Asian population increased 77% to 81,289 since 2000 and now makes up 14% of the population.

In December 2005, Gwinnett rezoned certain areas along major roads to allow 25-story residential buildings. Within six months, three developers had proposed towers along Interstate 85, Dunham-Jones says.

One proposal envisioned 10 glass high-rises towering above stores, restaurants and townhouses on 36 acres. That plan was eventually scrapped, but several are still in the pipeline, awaiting financing. The county is aggressively pursuing Asian investors.

Paul Bai is Taiwanese-American and the executive vice president of Asian Village Atlanta, a 184-acre project that includes a Chinese classical garden and sections representing other Asian cultures to let people “experience Asia without a passport.”

It might transform the city of Norcross in Gwinnett County because of high-rise hotels and apartments that would surround the museums, concert halls and pavilions at the core. “We started out as a railroad town,” Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson says. “We were basically the country.”

Norcross may be more city than country today but still, “the tallest building in Norcross … is three stories, four stories at the most,” he says.

Gwinnett’s 2030 plan, which embraces high density and tall buildings along certain corridors, will change that. “Traditional suburban growth is not the focus,” says Nick Masino, vice president of economic development at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. “It didn’t work.”

Masino recently went on a business recruitment mission to China and Korea with local government and business officials. Local brokers are encouraging Asian investors to take advantage of visas the U.S. gives to foreign investors to allow them to live here.Many are lured by the prospect of a U.S. education for their children.

Looking for capital

“Gwinnett County is making a sophisticated judgment that whatever they’re offering will resonate with offshore investors,” says Stephen Blank of the Urban Land Institute, a non-profit group that promotes innovative development. “Clearly, there’s surplus capital in Asia.”

The shift from traditional suburbs to more citified places is fueled by the push for land and energy conservation. In Irving, Texas, the prospect of a light-rail line connecting Dallas, Irving and the airport is encouraging urbanized development. High-rise apartments and offices are in the works, says Gary Miller, planning and inspections director.

“The new investment is up, not out,” says Robert Lang, co-director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech. “You have a willingness to live in high-rises and a comfort in investing in high-rises. We’re going to make our suburbs little Hong Kongs” — referring to the skyscraper skyline of the Chinese island.

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 19, 2009

By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
dfleck@dallasnews.com

Dallas didn’t get it. Neither did Fort Worth. But Irving did.

For one year, the Carpenter Lobby at the Irving Arts Center will be the home for a 9-foot-tall model of the Ten Thousand Springs Pavilion. The model comes from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian received the intricate structure from Dr. Chan Laiwa and the China Red Sandalwood Museum in Beijing. Chan founded the museum to preserve and perpetuate the ancient Chinese art of red sandalwood carving.

On Sunday, the Irving Arts Center held a formal opening of the exhibit. Lorraine Taylor, chair of the Irving Arts board, welcomed guests and thanked board members and Richard Huff, executive director of the Arts Center, for their efforts in landing the exhibit. City Council member Rick Stopfer also said a few words and thanked fellow council members Sam Smith and Rose Cannaday for their support.

Stopfer then introduced Consul Cai Lian of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston. “It’s an honor to join you today,” Lian said. “It’s wonderful to see this gift to the Smithsonian by China will now have a broader audience.”

Paula Wallace, president of the Savannah College of Art and Design, also spoke. She was followed by Harold Closter, director of Smithsonian Affiliations. He thanked the Arts Center staff for partnering with the Smithsonian. “We are glad to bring to you one of the newest and most prized artifacts in our collection,” he said. He also pointed out two other works on loan from the Smithsonian – the sculptures from the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.

The program also included a lion dance, refreshments and children’s activities, such as lantern-making, calligraphy classes, yoga and Chinese brush painting demonstrations. The exhibit runs through June 2010.

Dallas Business Journal - by Katherine Cromer Brock Staff Writer

More than 120 hotels in Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving and Arlington have joined forces to boost business travel to North Texas by cutting fees.

Along with the hoteliers, area convention and visitors bureaus, ground transportation providers and American Airlines have created a co-op called the DFW Meet Now Promise to provide incentives to corporate meeting planners who commit to booking and holding their events in North Texas before the end of 2009.

Details of the new partnership will be announced Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

“For 30 years, we’ve all worked together cooperatively on the leisure travel side,” said Diane Brandon, spokeswoman for the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau. This, however, is the first major push by the local groups to increase business travel.

The lingering recession has caused North Texas convention and visitors bureaus to cut their annual budgets by an average of 10% for the coming fiscal year. It’s largely in response to a drop in hotel revenue and taxes, which help fund the bureaus.

According to the new co-op, meeting planners can submit a request for proposals via www.dfwpromise.com. Participating hotels that book a convention or meeting have agreed to waive attrition fees — the cost of hotel rooms that have been contractually booked, but not filled at the time of the convention.

Attrition fees are typically part of a standard hotel contract, Brandon said.

“That could be a significant amount of money,” she said. “Meeting planners are a little nervous about taking that kind of risk. Now, you don’t have the risk of people not being there.”

Additionally, ground transportation providers are offering a 20% discount for meetings booked and held before the end of the year, and American Airlines will announce new group discounts on Thursday, Brandon said.

Although she was unable to release a list of participating hotels, Brandon said every brand and every category are represented, from limited-service to full-service and luxury.

kcromerbrock@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7112

 http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/07/06/daily30.html

12:00 AM CDT on Friday, July 10, 2009

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
krobinson@dallasnews.com

Officials with four Dallas-Fort Worth area visitors’ bureaus and American Airlines Inc. announced a program Thursday designed to put more zip into the slow-moving travel segment.

Called DFW Meet Now Promise, the program offers discounts and other incentives to groups that book and hold meetings in North Texas before New Year’s Eve.

Under the program, nearly 130 hotels have agreed not to charge event planners if all rooms that are booked for an event end up not being used. The concept, known in the trade as attrition, has kept some groups from booking rooms, not knowing if the economy would stop people from attending.

The program also includes group discounts on American Airlines and 20 percent discounts from participating ground transportation providers.

It was announced by officials from Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth and Irving and the convention and visitors bureaus of the four cities, along with the Hotel Association of North Texas. The announcement was made at a news conference at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the largest hub for American Airlines.

Officials called it the largest regional collaboration since the cities came together decades ago to build the airport.

The city officials said the new program shows the group can collaborate on regional issues ranging from transportation to planning for Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

The effort comes at a time when hotel revenue in Dallas is down by 10 percentage points from last year, according to Phillip Jones, president and chief executive of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.

He said occupancy rates in Dallas are about 50 percent, slightly lower downtown, compared with 60 percent last year.

Meanwhile, airlines have struggled to generate enough traffic to fill their flights, despite capacity cuts and fare sales this year. The nine largest carriers reported that their June traffic was down 6.7 percent on a 6.9 percent reduction in flying capacity.

Jones acknowledged that with an expiration date of December, the Meet Now program will not attract large, citywide conventions that book more than 2,500 rooms years in advance.

“It’s the corporate, small meeting market that’s suffering right now,” said Jones. “This is a way to [increase] the interest level in North Texas.”

Looking longer term, he said, the city’s yet-to-be-built convention hotel downtown already has booked 600,000 room nights from 2012, shortly after the planned opening, through 2016.

BY BETTY DILLARD

July 09, 2009

The cities and convention and visitors bureaus of Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas and Irving, along with American Airlines and several ground transportation providers, launched an incentive program on July 9 designed to boost business travel to North Texas.

Called DFW Meet Now Promise, the co-op program provides discounts and other incentives to corporate meeting planners who commit to booking and having their meetings and events in North Texas before the end of 2009.

The program involves almost 130 regional hotels that have agreed to waive attrition fees charged to event planners if all rooms they have booked are not used. Meeting planners  have been apprehensive with booking conventions and events during the current recession because of the attrition fees.

Attrition fees are part of a standard hotel contract, according to Tim Sullivan, chair of the Hotel Association of North Texas and general manager of Renaissance Dallas.

Participating hotels represent every major brand and category, including luxury, economy, full-service and extended stay, according to Sullivan.

The program also includes a 10 percent group discount on American Airlines and a 20 percent discount from participating ground transportation providers.

Officials said the DFW Meet Now Promise program is the largest regional collaboration since the cities banded together 35 years ago to build Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the site of the program’s announcement and headquarters for American Airlines.

“It may very well be the largest multi-city, multi-brand, business-to-business incentive program under way in the history of the United States’ hospitality industry,” Sullivan said.

David DuBois, president and chief executive officer of the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the program will create an additional economic impact for all of North Texas and will not create a lot of risk to the hotels.

“This program is intended to go through Dec. 31 but my gut feeling is – depending on its success – I wouldn’t be surprised that it doesn’t extend into the first six months of 2010,” said DuBois. “That decision can’t be made yet because we’re just launching it but I would be very supportive of carrying it forward.”

More information on the program can be found at www.dfwpromise.com

bdillard@bizpress.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       

Contact:  Diana Pfaff

800-247-8464 or 972-252-7476

dpfaff@irvingtexas.com

IRVING, TEXAS FEATURES A MONTH OF ACTIVITIES

FOR SPORTING ENTHUSIASTS

Polo, dragon boat races and professional golf highlight May events

IRVING, TEXAS (May 2009) – April showers may bring May flowers, but in Irving, Texas, the final month of spring is blooming with an array of events and activities for the sporting set.

The polo season in Irving officially kicks-off on Sunday, May 10, with the Las Colinas Polo Salutes the Mothers of Dallas and Pretty Woman Hat Contest at the Las Colinas Polo Club (LCPC).  The Championship Field at LCPC, know throughout the polo community as one of the finest facilities in the country to play and observe the sport, is set on 24 lush acres.  The manicured, green field coupled with white tents and chairs help create an ambiance as elegant as the sport itself.  

Las Colinas Polo is played every Sunday through the end of June.  Matches through May 24 begin at 5 p.m.; a 6 p.m. start is scheduled for games running from May 31 through the end of the season. Tickets are available day of play at the gate.  General admission is $10; grandstand seating is $15; and children under 12 are free.  Parking is free.  For more information, visit www.lascolinaspolo.com.

On Sunday, May 17, the Marco Polo World Foundation presents the 3^rd Annual DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival, a premier Asian sporting, cultural and educational event in North Texas.  Situated on Lake Carolyn in Irving’s Las Colinas Urban Center, the action-packed festival features spirited dragon boat races, spectacular kites, traditional dragon and lion dances, ethnic food demonstrations, cultural programs and colorful performances.  The multi-cultural event, which is open and free to the public, runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  For more information, visit www.dfwdragonboatfestival.com.

The city’s premiere event is also one of the premiere events on the PGA TOUR, and the DFW area’s most anticipated social event of the season.  The HP Byron Nelson Championship, played each spring at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas, will tee-off over Memorial Day weekend for the first time in tournament history.  Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Rory Sabbatini and popular defending champion Adam Scott are a few of the professional golfers competing in this year’s Championship.  Annually, the tournament is the most financially successful charity event on the PGA TOUR, raising more than $107 million for children and families served by Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers.

In addition to a move to Memorial Day weekend, the HP Byron Nelson Championship is implementing a number of initiatives to reduce the tournament’s carbon footprint. “Green” initiatives planned for the 2009 Championship include recycling aluminum, plastic, paper and food waste; eliminating numerous paper documents by moving to on-line only versions; and using bio-diesel fuel to power all on-site generators and recycled waste bags for trash receptacles.  In addition, the City of Irving is providing Mustang Mulch - City-branded recycled mulch - which will be used in decorative areas on the tournament grounds.

“Environmental sustainability is extremely important to us,” said Charley Spradley, 2009 tournament chairman. “We want to make sure that everything we put into place today helps future generations. You can feel good when you attend the HP Byron Nelson Championship. What our tournament is contributing goes a long way. In 2008 over 80% of all waste was recycled, including food, aluminum, plastic and paper.”

The 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship will be played May 18-24 on the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas.  For more information, visit hpbnc.org.

About Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers, Inc.

The Salesmanship Club has a rich history of serving children in our community.  Salesmanship Club Youth and Family Centers, a proud partner of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, currently operates innovative programs for children and their families, including the J. Erik Jonsson Community School in Oak Cliff, and child and family therapy centers in Oak Cliff and the Stemmons corridor.  From educational services for at-risk kids to therapy services for troubled kids, the charity beneficiary of the HP Byron Nelson Championship has continued to serve Dallas kids and families since 1920. Learn more at salesmanshipclub.org.

About Las Colinas Polo Club

Founded in 1996, the Las Colinas Polo Club (LCPC) is one of the premiere polo clubs in the Southwest. The club hosts more than twenty tournaments each year, drawing thousands of spectators to witness the dramatic and artistic sport.

About Marco Polo World Foundation (MPWF)

Marco Polo World Foundation initiated the First Annual DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival in 2007. Its mission is to promote the new sport of Dragon Boating in the DFW region, showcase Asian culture, enhance intercultural understanding and celebrate Asian/Pacific Heritage Month. The Festival also promotes cancer awareness and works with private and public sector partners and community organizations to encourage regional and international participation.

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