Houston old Savoy Hotel ahoy to Holiday Inn flagship

HOUSTON – A group of private investors purchased the former Savoy Hotel at 1616 Main St. and construction is underway to build a Holiday Inn in the 17-story structure.

The original hotel, built in 1909, was the first high-rise apartment building in Houston. In 2009, the smaller building of the then-103-year-old Savoy Hotel was demolished. The remaining 17-story addition, built in 1966, has been vacant since the Savoy Hotel closed its doors in 1988.

The hotel will be the Holiday Inn flagship of Houston when it is completed, said Rahul Bijlani, one of the developers. The investors plan to open the hotel in 2014.

However, the Savoy property is not the only multistory building in the southwestern part of downtown that seems to be on the path to development in recent years.

A local real estate investor has purchased the Central Square Plaza at 2100 Travis St. with plans to restore it. A group of private investors bought the long-deserted Days Inn property, located at 801 St. Joseph’s Pkwy., where they expect to develop the space into either a hotel or an apartment complex.

Read more at the Houston Chronicle.