MIDLAND, Texas — With headlines of a new hotel possibly coming to downtown Midland, some local businesses are optimistic, while some remain neutral.
There are businesses like Cancun Grill, who feel it would help bring in more visitors to the area and allow them to see more of what downtown has to offer.
“I don’t think it would affect business in the wrong way," said Sabrina Gardea, a bartender at Cancun Grill. "I think it’ll affect business in a good way. It’s giving the business... more people coming in means more money for the business, and not just for the business, but also for the employees.”
In the case of Tone Head Music, a local instrument repair shop, the owner said that a hotel would neither have a positive or negative effect.
“We’re a repair shop," said Brian Cook, owner of Tone Head Music. "We don’t do a whole lot of just walk-ins, so I don’t know. I can say most of the walk-ins I get that are just curious are from the DoubleTree. People from out of town that'll see my sign outside and just want to come in and look."
Cook did add though that there's another aspect of downtown that he feels should be addressed at some point.
“So we're at the corner of Wall and Loraine, and anywhere from Colorado to Main really, and Wall to Missouri, is just dang near impossible to park," said Cook. "If the city was going to do something, build us some parking. That's what I would like.”
A proposal for a hotel was submitted and awarded to Midland Downtown Renaissance.
The total cost of the project is around $125 million and construction is set to begin in 2024 if everything goes well.
So, it’ll take a while before we’ll see how it will impact local businesses.