The Statler Hotel & Residences is a hotel of mid-twentieth century design located at 1914 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas , Texas ( USA ). It is located on the edge of the Farmers Market District and adjacent to Main Street Garden Park . The hotel opened in 1956 as The Statler Hilton and was praised as the first modern American hotel and was designed by William B. Tabler . Later renamed the Dallas Grand Hotel, it closed in 2001, then was restored and reopened in 2017. It is currently a member of Historic Hotels of America , the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
31-592: Designed for the Statler Hotels chain, the hotel opened after that chain's sale to Hilton Hotels and was completed in 1956 at a cost of $ 16 million as The Statler Hilton. It was the first major hotel built in Dallas in nearly three decades. Opening day included luminaries from both coasts converging on Dallas for a four-day celebration. Architect William B. Tabler introduced several new construction techniques and materials. The first full application of its kind,
62-407: A heliport was located on the roof to shuttle guests from nearby airports. The outdoor patio located above street level along St. Paul Street contained a large rotating sculpture by José de Rivera . "A Wishing Star," 12 feet high and 15 feet across, was made of triangulated arms whose undersides were stainless steel and top goldplated. The Statler played an important role in establishing Dallas as
93-585: A $ 500,000 line of credit available, but maintained positive cash flow and Statler never used the line of credit. The Statler hotel in St. Louis was the first in the nation to offer air conditioning. The Dallas Statler hotel was the first in the nation to have elevator music. Each of the subsequent Statler Hotels built upon this formula for success. Reflecting the era's enthusiasm for scientific management , Statler took pride in how he standardized questions of room design. His hotels had minimal wasted space, particularly on
124-407: A ballroom capable of hosting 2,200 people. The room count was reduced to 710 after numerous renovations. The hotel itself was proclaimed “the last word in hostelries.” The Statler Hilton boasted many firsts for the hotel industry such as elevator music and custom 21" Westinghouse TVs in every room. It was one of the first hotels to have its ballroom and conference rooms located on lower floors, and
155-521: A business center for the Southwest. It was the largest hotel in the Southwest, and helped attract convention business to Dallas for many years. According to Dallas’ AIA Guide to Dallas, the Statler and next door's former Dallas Public Library , designed by George Dahl in 1953, make-up the “best block of 1950s architecture in the city.” In 1988, Hilton Hotels sold the property, by that point known as
186-522: A cantilevered reinforced flat-slab system reduced the number of columns needed and created a soaring building. Tabler was also one of the first in the country to use a thin-skinned curtain wall design consisting of 1 3/8" panels made of glass and colored porcelain coated metal. Its innovative features made it a significant contributor to the Modern movement in Dallas, and to the state of Texas. The Y-shaped building contained 1,001 guest rooms over 20 floors and
217-647: A private developer interested before construction began in 2008. Recent residential conversions and redevelopment initiatives by the City of Dallas have helped rejuvenate many of the nearby vacant structures. Main Street Garden Park , located in front of the Statler Hilton, has replaced many parking structures and is a gathering place for residents, office workers and students at the nearby Universities Center at Dallas . Preservation Dallas included
248-598: A purchase, that plans for residential redevelopment would be retained. The Matthews Southwest deal fell through in July 2013 after Matthews announced that they "couldn't make the financials work." Developer Mehrdad Moayedi's Centurion American Development Group signed a nonrefundable agreement to purchase the vacant 19-story building on Commerce Street in September 2013 with a goal of closing the purchase by April 2014. Beyond continuing plans for residential redevelopment, Moayedi
279-688: A time, connected to the Dallas Pedestrian Network . The building was designed in 1961 by architects Harwood K. Smith and Dales Young Foster and opened in 1964 as the fifth tallest building in Dallas. Banking facilities for the National Bank of Commerce were located on the second and third floors, while the 28-story tower portion of the building contained the executive headquarters for LTV (Ling-Temco-Vought), Electro-Science Investors, and American Life Insurance Company plus other leasable space. 2 levels of parking are located below
310-516: Is also considering other uses including a movie theater, grocery store, restaurants and retail space as well as a possible live music venue. On May 1, 2015, it was announced that the building, and the adjacent Old Dallas Central Library , would be redeveloped as the Statler Hotel & Residences. The work cost $ 230 million. The hotel is again managed by Hilton Hotels , under their Curio Collection banner. The new hotel has 159 guest rooms on
341-549: The LTV Tower (and also originally National Bank of Commerce Building ), is a skyscraper in the City Center District of Dallas, Texas , USA. The building rises 434 feet (132 meters). The structure contains 33 floors, made up originally of office space (but now consists of a hotel and apartments), standing as the 29th-tallest building in the city. The building is adjacent to Thanks-Giving Square and was, for
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#1732783762120372-578: The Dallas Hilton, to Hong Kong investors who renamed it the Dallas Grand Hotel. It closed in 2001. Over the years interior renovations have erased many of the original design elements, although staircases are still in their original configuration. The exterior has essentially remained unchanged over the years. The building's rehabilitation has been hampered by a number of structural problems, notably water damage and vandalism on some of
403-595: The Exposition was deemed an overall failure due to a number of factors (including bad weather and the assassination of President William McKinley ), Statler was one of the few vendors to make a small profit. His next venture was the Inside Inn, built for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri . Another temporary wooden structure, it was the world's largest hotel with 2,257 rooms. A grand success,
434-460: The State Fair. The quality of the building's construction has been debated over the years. During construction, a section of masonry broke loose and tons of bricks crashed through the roof of a neighboring building. Shortly after opening some of the windows cracked due to heat. In 1970 a bomb threat caused evacuation of the building. The building was sold in 1968, and in 1975 the building
465-688: The Statler and Radisson hotel chains". The Hotels Statler Company, Inc., was sold to Conrad Hilton 's Hilton Hotels in 1954 for $ 111 million, then the world's largest real estate transaction. The Statler hotel in Buffalo was the first to be demolished after the Hilton acquisition, in 1968. The Statler hotel in New York became the Hotel Pennsylvania. The Travel Channel's documentary paranormal television show Destination Fear filmed at
496-418: The Statler name) to a light in the closet, Statler brought the average traveler a level of luxury that was otherwise unaffordable. Rooms were originally available at what seemed a very cheap price, leading many other hoteliers to predict the failure of the Buffalo hotel. The opening night price was as low as $ 1.50 for a guest room, leading to the slogan "A Room and a Bath for a Dollar and a Half". The hotel had
527-402: The building remains empty. In late 2009 the building's lower levels were covered in opaque plastic and lit from behind, giving the building a lantern-like appearance. On March 1, 2011, it was reported that the Statler Hilton building and the adjoining library had been sold to a developer, Leobardo Trevino, who intended to restore it. "Right now," he said, "the plans are to clean it up and restore
558-451: The end of April 2013, Dallas news outlets were circulating reports that Trevino's Ricchi Dallas Investments was exploring deals to sell the hotel to prospective buyers; while Trevino did not specifically identify any individual prospects, Dallas-based developer Jack Matthews announced that his company, Matthews Southwest, was executing due diligence concerning a possible purchase, further stating that if Matthews Southwest were to go through with
589-421: The exterior and make it nice. We'll gut it and take it down to the concrete...But our plans are to restore it to the original and make it look like it did in 1956. We love the property." Trevino's group is also restoring 1600 Pacific Tower in downtown Dallas. In March 2012, it was revealed that a previously forgotten, 40-foot-long mural from 1956 had been discovered during the renovation of the building. Towards
620-432: The first five floors, and 219 apartments on the upper 11 floors. The hotel features meeting facilities, as well as retail and office space, four restaurants and a lounge. A music venue is planned for the hotel's 14,500-square-foot ballroom. The hotel reopened on October 17, 2017. On July 1, 1976, Tina Turner left her husband Ike Turner before a scheduled Ike & Tina Turner gig at the Statler Hilton. While en route to
651-520: The floors. However, many of the floors and hotel rooms have remained untouched since 2001. Ironically, the flat-slab structural system that was so innovative in the 1950s now limits ceiling height to 9 feet and adds challenges to any renovation. The building also contains a large amount of asbestos. The lack of adequate parking was once considered a challenge to redevelopment, although there are several nearby large parking garages. Main Street Garden Park might have included underground parking had there been
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#1732783762120682-558: The guestroom floors, and he strove to have room layouts that would maximize efficiency and profitability. After Statler's death in 1928, the company built hotels in Washington, D.C. , Los Angeles, California , Hartford, Connecticut , and Dallas, Texas . Many of these hotels were designed by the architectural firm of George Post & Sons, the successor firm of George B. Post . In the mid- and late-1940s, pianist Liberace "gained national exposure through his performance contracts with
713-509: The hotel made Statler a net profit of $ 361,000 and laid the groundwork for his first permanent hotel. The hotel was then dismantled and sold for scrap. The Inside Inn was near the edge of Forest Park in St. Louis, now traversed by Highway 64/40. The first "permanent" Statler hotel was designed by August Esenwein and James A. Johnson , built in Buffalo, New York , and offered 300 rooms and bathrooms (later expanded to 450 rooms and baths). It
744-531: The hotel, the Turners got into a physical altercation in the car. Shortly after their arrival, as Ike took a nap, Tina fled running on Saint Paul St across Interstate 30 to the nearby Ramada Inn . The Ramada Inn is now called the Hotel Lorenzo. 32°46′50″N 96°47′42″W / 32.7806°N 96.7949°W / 32.7806; -96.7949 Statler Hotels The Statler Hotel company
775-400: The location in 2019 for the seventh episode of their first season. In 2020, former owner Mark Croce was killed in a helicopter crash. As of June 2021, the hotel has been purchased by developers planning to turn the building into a mixed-use structure with retail, meeting and entertainment space, and 600 - 700 residential units. 1600 Pacific Tower 1600 Pacific Tower , also known as
806-403: The private Lancers Club. The building's facade was covered with 125,000 square feet (11,600 m ) of dark glass with strips of aluminum molding and contained the world's largest electronic signboard. Thirty windows on each of the twenty-five floors were individually controlled and could spell out different messages. It often spelled out "LTV", and even had a figure of Big Tex in lights during
837-586: The structure in both its 2007 and 2008 Most Endangered lists and has campaigned for the preservation of the landmark hotel. In 2008 the National Trust for Historic Preservation included the Statler Hilton on its 2008 list of " America's Most Endangered Places ," citing its importance in American mid-century design. In June 2009 AIA Dallas announced a competition for a temporary installation to provide pleasing views to Main Street Garden Park patrons while
868-421: The structure. The ground floor contained a marble and granite pedestrian mall connecting Elm Street and Pacific Avenue, open 24 hours a day for pedestrian passage. An innovative motor bank, called "Teller-Vision", allowed drive-up bank customers to conduct business over a closed circuit television system. Terraces and gardens were located on the roof of the 3-story base, and the top floor of the building contained
899-602: Was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton (E. M.) Statler in Buffalo, New York . In 1901, Buffalo hosted the Pan-American Exposition . Statler built a hotel on the Exposition grounds and called it "Statler's Hotel". It was a temporary wooden structure intended to last the duration of the Exposition. With 2,084 rooms, it could accommodate 5,000 guests. Although
930-407: Was sold again to Dresser, Inc. The building went through a series of successive owners intending to convert it into residences, but because of economic conditions no plans immediately came to fruition. In 2010, work by a San Antonio-based developer began to renovate the building—which was to be renamed The Grand Ricchi—for residential and office condo use. In 2014 a new plan was announced, to convert
961-490: Was the first hotel chain to offer such amenity. The hotel was successful and led to a chain of hotels in other cities. Statler's intent was not to compete with the luxury hotels, but to provide, clean, comfortable, and moderately-priced rooms for the average traveler. Statler was the first major hotel chain to have a bathroom in every room. His innovative Statler Plumbing Shaft is still used in modern construction. From providing paper and pens for correspondence (prominently bearing