Airport News

Heliport at convention center in downtown Dallas closes for rebuilding

Vertiport

Helicopter Dallas

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the temporary closure of the Dallas Vertiport, located adjacent to the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, effective July 24.

This closure will allow the facility's demolition and reconstruction as part of the multi-year project to build a new and expanded convention center in the Central Business District, as City of Dallas officials announced in 2022.

Located on the south end of the convention center, the Dallas Vertiport is the world's largest urban elevated Heliport/Vertiport. It has a dual deck that accommodates three helicopters plus two vertical-take-off and landing aircraft.

Construction for the new facility will begin after the vertiport's closure, with work projected to start by late 2025.

Once completed, the site will feature an entirely new infrastructure, according to the City of Dallas Department of Aviation, which manages the vertiport, Dallas Love Field, and Dallas Executive Airport.

While the airport layout plan is still in progress, the new vertiport will have similar square footage and design. It will meet current FAA vertiport design criteria and incorporate upgrades such as:

Emerging electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVOL) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) requirements
Expanded aircraft parking capacity from five to six positions
A reimagined passenger lobby and on-site vehicle parking

"This facility has served as a valuable asset to the city for over 30 years, and we are excited to rebuild it to guarantee long-term adaptability and operational readiness," says Rafael Garza, General Aviation Manager for the Department of Aviation, in a statement.

The Dallas Vertiport accommodates a variety of general aviation operations, including military training, sightseeing, law enforcement missions, aerial photography, and more. It sees frequent use by businesses in downtown Dallas, with corporate flights, recreational flying, law enforcement, sight-seeing, aerial photography, flight training, and military training. It also hosts the HAI Heli Expo every four years, attracting more than 400 attendees.

This is the first time the vertiport has been closed since it opened in 1994. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2029.

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New $18 million AC Hotel by Marriott to land near DFW Airport

Photo courtesy of Marriott

New AC by Marriott, scheduled for landing in Grapevine in 2027.

A new five-story, 200-room AC Hotel by Marriott is set to open in 2027 in Grapevine, not far from both DFW Airport and the city's touristy Main Street.

Construction is to get underway in March on the $18 million, nearly 122,000-square-foot upscale hotel, located at 1701 State Hwy. 26 at Bass Pro Court, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The AC Hotel will feature a ballroom, meeting rooms, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a full-service restaurant and bar, and an owners club.

Grapevine-based Type Six Design and Development Services is the architect for the project.

More than 250 AC Hotel properties are located in 33 countries, including five Dallas-Fort Worth locations. Two of the local hotels are in Dallas, with one each in Fort Worth, Frisco, and McKinney.

Hotels close to the AC Hotel site in Grapevine include Hilton, Comfort Suites, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Residence Inn by Marriott, and TownePlace Suites by Marriott. Also nearby are Marriott’s Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, the Grapevine Mills outlet center, a Bass Pro Shops sporting goods store, and LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth.

Both DFW Airport and Grapevine's Historic Main Street (which gets particularly busy around the holidays in the "Christmas Capital of Texas") are just three miles away.

The AC Hotels chain targets business travelers and solo travelers as guests, particularly millennials.

Marriott says that at AC Hotel properties, “every moment has been designed, refined, crafted, and considered to create a seamless guest experience. Each AC Hotel features purposefully designed signature spaces that strike the perfect balance of form and function.”

Marriott debuted the AC Hotel brand in North America in 2014. The concept started in Spain in 1998.

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