Hotel News
Kimpton signs on to run the hotel in historic Deep Ellum building
The Deep Ellum mixed-use development called the Epic now has a hotel partner: San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.
This is the historic Knights of Pythias Temple, more recently the Union Bankers Trust Building, at the corner of Elm Street and Good Latimer Expressway.
According to a release, it will be called the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, named for William Sidney Pittman, the architect who originally designed it in 1916, and it will open in 2020.
It'll include 165 guest rooms, more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant-bar-and-lounge, outdoor patio, pool, and fitness center.
This announcement by Kimpton follows the Dallas City Council's June 14 approval of $2 million in tax breaks.
The Epic development already includes The Hamilton, a luxury apartment tower with 310 residences and 290,000 square feet of office space, highlighting the project’s focus on residential and commercial revitalization of the area.
The project is a partnership between Kimpton, Westdale — the real estate company that already owns a lot of property in Deep Ellum — and VineTower Deep Ellum, LLC, which is developing the hotel in partnership with Westdale.
Kimpton CEO Mike DeFrino says that Deep Ellum is "a perfect match for our unique take on boutique hospitality."
The design will retain the original Beaux Arts structure and the integrity of the fourth-floor ballroom where blues musicians such as "Blind Lemon" Jefferson, Robert Johnson, and "Lead Belly" Ledbetter performed.
Kimpton’s Global Senior Vice President of Design Ave Bradley will spearhead the interior design and architecture for the hotel, in partnership with Busta Studios and Perkins+Will architects.
This hotel will join the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt in Austin which opened in November of 2015 and was recently named the best hotel in Texas by Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.
Kimpton's last presence in Dallas was in 2017, when it was ousted as the management company for Park Cities property Hotel Lumen, which was rescued by the Headington Companies. Kimpton previously ran the Hotel Palomar at US-75 and Mockingbird Lane, until 2014, when it was taken over by Hilton; the Palomar is now the Highland Dallas Hotel.
