A new hotel concept from the Trump Organization will launch nationwide in Dallas. The innovative four-star lodging may be the first of its kind in the United States and it will not bear the signature brand namesake but instead be called Scion.
“They wanted to create a hotel that would attract young business travelers in the creative and technology sectors with a collaborative concept in the lobby,” said Mike Sarimsakci, the project’s Turkish-born developer and a San Francisco native, the Dallas Business Journal reported. He added the Trump Organization shopped for a prime Dallas property to place a four-star business hotel for over a year.
Sarimsakci’s Dallas and Istanbul based Alterra Worldwide redeveloped the 18-story aquamarine Alto 211 downtown Dallas office building and the $90 million re-do of the historic Butler Brothers Building, a nine-story dual-branded Marriott hotel and a 238-unit apartment building. He hopes to see the Scion house a Turkish furniture store, a steakhouse, a seafood restaurant, a Mediterranean eatery, a Turkish coffee shop with pastries, and a small grab-and-go market in the lobby. Sarimsakci anticipated breaking ground by year’s end. He estimated the Scion Dallas could open in early 2019.
The hotel may be the first of its kind domestically, noted the business journal. Given its target market, the Scion expects its hotel rooms to come in at a relatively affordable price point, ranging from $200-$300 per night unlike the high-end luxury Trump Hotels where the nightly rate starts at $700.
Architectural concept renderings by Dallas-based 5G Studio Collaborative depict the Scion Dallas as a six-story, 220-room hotel with a rooftop deck, pool, high-end restaurant, and even a small market for guests. It will not feature the signature name of the company’s founder now U.S. President Donald Trump. Developers plan to construct the hotel within a $50 million mixed-use development, fronted by an estimated 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger will oversee the new brand, The New York Times reported. He defines the Scion experience as stylish decor, local art, and communal spaces, primarily lobbies where guests and locals can work and socialize, plus hallmark quality service. Danziger noted: “Scion will be relevant but not faddish and though we’re not necessarily going after millennials, the concept will likely draw in millennials.”
The Scion Dallas is actually the first of 17 that Trump Hotels has in the works to attract younger professionals traveling to various U.S. markets. The business hotel will stand within walking distance of Dallas City Hall, a structure recognized for its uniquely modernist inverted pyramid design crafted by famed architect I.M. Pei in the 1970s. Last week, Danziger told reporters in Los Angeles they signed letters of intent with 17 potential hoteliers for Scions. Other cities include Austin, Cincinnati, Nashville, and New York. Sarimsakci intimated Detroit may be on the list.
The Dallas Business Journal noted Sarimsakci has international investors from Turkey, Nepal, and Kazakhstan. “We are doing it with no assistance from the city; it’s all market funded,” he said. “It will have a real interesting capital structure. We have some friends coming in and partnering with us with truly international equity.”
Sarimsakci added: “We want Dallas to be London, we want Dallas to be Singapore and having these venues that we are creating will bring and keep the young people in Dallas,” he said.
Following the November election, President Trump stepped down from the eponymous luxury hotel and management firm plus all other entities for which he held an office or position. He turned over the operation of the Trump Organization to his two elder sons.
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