Midland, Texas Boom

Highrise Tower · October 6, 2018

Heard there is current an O&G boom out that way. Recently had dinner with a chemical engineer director. She said Midland is just booming.

Any towers planned?

Moderators · October 6, 2018

Did they ever build that proposed 50 story skyscraper downtown? I remember reading about it about decade ago in HBJ.

intencity77 · October 6, 2018

No offense, but Midland-Odessa could never “boom” enough for my taste.

trymahjong · October 7, 2018

Living 18 years in Midland, Texas has taught both boom and bust there; are character building experiences.

ChannelTwoNews · July 14, 2019

On 10/6/2018 at 4:19 PM, ekdrm2d1 said:

Heard there is current an O&G boom out that way. Recently had dinner with a chemical engineer director. She said Midland is just booming.

Any towers planned?

I've kinda kept tabs on what's going on in the Basin over the years, even before that 53-story tower was announced - then cancelled. The boom/bust cycle tends to be more extreme there as the reliance on the energy industry is far more palpable in just about everything that happens and, in a way, it's fascinating to be on the ground in a place like that.

I think the bulk of the construction out there has primarily been new hotels - but there have been some O&G campus build-outs that have taken place. The majority have been 4-6 story structures that make an impact of sorts. Most of the action in general is on the north and west sides of town, in spots along Loop 250. Pioneer and Chevron have completed new office buildings (and in Chevron's case, campus) in the past few years. Construction is wrapping up on Anadarko's pair of office buildings as well.

I haven't been there in about a decade, but during the previous boom a few years back - the lack of supply really drove up the costs per night. On my last visit, a lot of the professional crews out in that part of the world were not doing O&G work, but rather assembling the wind turbines for the numerous wind farms along and near I-20. The Super 8 on Wall Street near Downtown that I enjoyed as a bachelor at that time specifically because it was cheap and not horrible at the cost of about $70 would, during the boom, have rooms going for $150-$250 per night. At the same time what is arguably the nicest hotel, the Doubletree downtown, had rooms going for $500+. Needless to say things have changed.

All of that said, Downtown hasn't missed out on the action. While there are still a number of vacant spaces present some have found new lives. Two have become part of the campus for Concho Resources. Another has become residential with retail and a secondary tv studio for the CBS station at street level. When the old courthouse was demolished across the street from that building, county government took over a nearly vacant 11-story building and filled it. Others have been imploded for surface level parking lots. At least one midrise apartment complex emerged nearby, with retail in the base.

The site of the old courthouse is interesting though. This is where that 53-story tower was planned. When it died, a proposal for an 18 story or so hotel emerged then also fizzled when the principals couldn't provide financial information to the city for their backing. Between that spot on the west side of the block and the convention center on the east lay Centennial Plaza - a nice, if underused public space in the heart of the city. The small convention center is being expanded a bit and now, just west of it, will lie an expanded urban park to be called Centennial Park. This one is actually under construction at the moment, it seems. It's also probably the best thing that could have happened to the block as well, as there are a few surrounding older highrises that look like they could be given a new life... for the right person and at the right price.

A final thought, one that probably has nothing to do with anything posted so far. Midland has, for it's size, one of the best skylines in the state (IMHO) - primarily in how it tends to appear on the horizon from far away. I've always liked driving through the country and when going out there, I'd get off I-10 onto Hwy 349 to Iraan then Rankin. The land transforms from scrub land to a number of mesas that continue on for miles before coming to flat and featureless scrub land again. Still, just about 25 miles or so just south of town, that skyline starts to come into view and you know that you're close to your destination. Well, it made an impact on me as someone in my 20s at the time anyway.

Highrise Tower · September 1, 2019

What happened out there today?

WillowBend56 · October 16, 2020

Two summers ago it was hard to find a place to overnight between Big Spring and Van Horn for less than

$200 a night.

A few weeks ago I drove Pecos to Abilene and saw an explosion of new motels and all sorts of temporary

housing.

ChannelTwoNews · March 2, 2023

https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/western-united-building-history/513-0ba4dabf-06f9-4a03-8c84-a94f5bd5b955

One of the buildings I mentioned a few posts up ages ago that had potential is expected to come down later this month - the Western United Life Building.

For a number of years in the recent past, there was a hotel proposal of sorts for it, but nothing ever came of it.

The piece does a fairly good job of reviewing the history of the building and it's role in the downtown area and city. It actually undersells the amount of demolition in the core though by a bit though. The V&J/Gihls Tower (12 floors), Permian Building (5-6 floors) and another structure about 6 stories tall all occupied the same block with the Midland Savings Tower (which was mentioned) and all went down within maybe 2 years or so? I remember visiting in 2007 and Permian was already dust while the V&J/Gihls was stripped to it's metal frame. The Savings Tower was still there as was the 6-story building immediately north of it. When I visited again in 2010, those were all gone - leaving a 12 & 14 story tower at the southwest corner of Wall & Big Spring, surrounded by parking lots. The Building of the Southwest (also mentioned, and since demolished) was immediately north of that block - next door to this building.

ChannelTwoNews · March 29, 2023

On 3/2/2023 at 8:46 AM, ChannelTwoNews said:

https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/western-united-building-history/513-0ba4dabf-06f9-4a03-8c84-a94f5bd5b955

One of the buildings I mentioned a few posts up ages ago that had potential is expected to come down later this month - the Western United Life Building.

For a number of years in the recent past, there was a hotel proposal of sorts for it, but nothing ever came of it.

The piece does a fairly good job of reviewing the history of the building and it's role in the downtown area and city. It actually undersells the amount of demolition in the core though by a bit though. The V&J/Gihls Tower (12 floors), Permian Building (5-6 floors) and another structure about 6 stories tall all occupied the same block with the Midland Savings Tower (which was mentioned) and all went down within maybe 2 years or so? I remember visiting in 2007 and Permian was already dust while the V&J/Gihls was stripped to it's metal frame. The Savings Tower was still there as was the 6-story building immediately north of it. When I visited again in 2010, those were all gone - leaving a 12 & 14 story tower at the southwest corner of Wall & Big Spring, surrounded by parking lots. The Building of the Southwest (also mentioned, and since demolished) was immediately north of that block - next door to this building.

And gone...

https://www.cbs7.com/2023/03/25/before-during-after-western-united-life-building-implosion/

ChannelTwoNews · July 12, 2023

A couple of new hotels may be coming downtown.

One is Tapestry by Hilton which would be housed in a 1920's building that would be renovated.

https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/tapestry-hotel-hilton-transform-downtown-midland-17869814.php

Hotel Santa Rita also appears to be back in contention

https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/mayor-blong-downtown-hotel-project-done-deal-18086883.php#photo-23790158

ChannelTwoNews · January 26

The Hotel Santa Rita was approved by Midland City Council on Tuesday (mrt.com)

"Hotel Santa Rita is one step closer to reality following a 5-2 approval vote by Midland City Council voted Jan. 23, 2024."

ChannelTwoNews · May 14

Looks like the Tapestry will be the next hotel to try and get Midland City Council approval.

Tapestry Hotel by Hilton to transform downtown Midland building (mrt.com)

"The proposed 93-room boutique hotel will be presented to the Midland City Council in the next couple months, according to a fact sheet provided by Al Escamilla of the Escamilla Media Group. The hotel still needs to receive approval and proper permits from the city.

The property owner of the proposed hotel is LSBrentway LLC, a local family with more than 25 years of business experience in West Texas, according to the fact sheet."

I actually will be heading out to this part of the state in a few weeks and am looking forward to seeing the new version of Centennial Park and a few other things in person.

ChannelTwoNews · June 25

So, I am back from this part of the world and have to say I've been impressed with the amount of development that's taken place over the past number of years.

I stayed on the east side of Odessa near Loop 338 & TX-191 because I'm cheap and didn't want to pay Midland prices for a hotel room. Turned out to be extremely good timing as that particular corner was running .15 to .35 lower for gas prices (2.54!) than pretty much anywhere I saw from Big Spring to Monahans. The east side of Odessa and the west side of Midland are continuing to draw nearer to one another. The intersection I stayed at didn't exist in its current form during my last stay over a decade ago. I wish I had more to say about Odessa for fairness, but we didn't really do much there except sleep and eat.

191 is a really viable corridor now for development between the two cities. It doesn't take any time whatsoever to go back and forth between Loop 250 in Midland and 338 in Odessa. It probably benefits from more intrusive construction along the Midland stretch of I-20 as well. There are some growing pains along this way, to be sure. 191's main lanes are being expanded and have a steady flow of traffic during most of the day. Backups do take place along the feeder at the intersection with 250 heading into Midland at rush hour in the evening. There were already a number of hotels at that intersection - and the location of Oxy, Chevron and others nearby along Deauville Blvd. are feeding that trend as well as more of the suburban residential development to the west of 250.

One of the more interesting construction sites actually is at that intersection. A stalled hotel south of the HEB and east of the Sam's Club is moving ahead after years of being on hold. Had to dig into this but it looks like that hotel will be the Doubletree location for the area now. The existing one - the former Hilton Towers downtown - was put up for sale earlier in the year. One of the most persistent knocks on it has been that it's been in need of renovations for some time. Maybe a new buyer can help with that.

I did get to visit Centennial Park across the street and am extremely glad that I did. For 5-7 PM, at over 100 degrees, it was being used pretty extensively for a space without a major event that evening, and the folks kept coming as the time passed. Parking immediately around the park and on surrounding lots was mostly full the entire time. The star attraction was the splash pad, which my kids absolutely loved. There was also a really neat looking wood & rope/net play area at one corner which my oldest really liked before she went to go splash. For adults, the star attractions with tables were the shaded tables and benches. The rebuilt convention center is on or effectively in the park now.

The other thing that surprised me was that the street scene, especially around that park, was fairly active. I'm sure that there was an event or large group staying at the hotel across the street from the park as they all had about the same welcome backpacks that the CVB gives out to people... but it seemed like there was more happening. Beyond that, there were a fair number of pedestrians out and about along Wall and a few of the surrounding streets, and a decent amount of dining options were open and were being patronized. That's a departure from my last time there years ago when I could walk down the literal middle of the same street at about 7 at night and not be afraid of getting hit.

All in all I was impressed. So was my wife who had never been to that part of the state. It's a good base for getting out and seeing the region, and I think we'll have to find an excuse to get back out there some time.