The Longview review

​​LONGVIEW, GREGG COUNTY – Known for its strong industrial sector, Longview located in Gregg County is the largest city and the county seat.

Education and healthcare, however, have contributed largely to the city’s recent growth.

A $45 million renovation of Longview Regional Medical Center, completed in late 2015, added 100 hospital beds, eight operating suites, and 12 intensive-care unit beds, as well as 28 labor, delivery, and postpartum beds. 

Longview’s hotel landscape has undergone rapid changes over the past several years. 

The opening of the Hilton Garden Inn, which offers nearly 8,000 sf of meeting space, is the first and (presently) only upscale property in the city.

The ongoing conversion of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Longview to a full-service Holiday Inn is another shift in Longview’s hotel industry makeup. The conversion brings the addition of roughly 8,000 sf of meeting space to the existing 2,000 sf available at the hotel.

Most of this development is occurring along the north side of Longview, where the newer hotels have helped attract demand.

Furthermore, the Longview lodging market has been affected by the downturn in oil and gas.

Despite this lack of energy-related business, the outlook for the area is cautiously optimistic as hotels adapt to the growth in other sectors, which are providing potential new sources of demand.