May 4, 2026

By Mary Beth Gahan

Town council is expected to postpone a vote on the proposed hotel for Lakeside Crossing after the developer asked to push it past Monday’s meeting. When it does come to a vote, it’ll look a lot different than just two weeks ago. There will be a new council member, possible economic incentives, and most likely a different hotel brand.

The reason for the delay is a “scheduling conflict,” according to the planning staff report on the agenda.

Jimmy Archie, of Realty Capital, is proposing a Residence Inn by Marriott on the west side of FM 2499 south of Lakeside Parkway. The site is zoned to allow a hotel, but the developer is asking for exceptions, including architectural changes to match the rest of Lakeside, less parking than is mandated, and to allow an extended stay hotel by right.

The planning and zoning commission voted on Feb. 9 to recommend denial of the project. At the April 20 town council meeting, most council members said they had no interest in an extended stay hotel, no matter the brand.

The proposed Residence Inn has faced fierce opposition from residents who worry about the clientele and believe it doesn’t mesh with the upscale look of Lakeside. Business owners in the area say customers are desperately needed in their restaurants and shops, especially on weekdays when Flower Mound residents are busy with work and kid activities.

The council instead voted to delay a decision two weeks to talk with residents and give the developer time to come back with other hotel brand options that aren’t classified as extended stay. If the brand isn’t owned by Marriott, the landowner might lose out on tens of thousands of dollars.

“Whatever brand it ends up being, I hope we can all agree we need a SUCCESSFUL hotel built on the Lakeside Crossing hotel site, and in order to do that it will need to be a brand that is well known, and preferably is part of the Marriott family of hotel brands because the landowner has already paid a franchise fee to Marriott for a hotel here,” Archie wrote to council members on March 26.

The land is owned by Coventry Squared LLC. A franchise fee for a Residence Inn is $90,000, according to a franchise disclosure form distributed by Marriott.

At the meeting, Archie said there is an agreement with Marriott to bring an Autograph hotel in Lakeside Village near Rockledge Park. Other Autograph hotels in the Metroplex include the Hotel Drover in Fort Worth and Hotel Vin in Grapevine. If the developer stays with a Marriott brand, the hotel cannot compete with the Autograph hotel, Archie said.

Council member Adam Schiestel said in order to get an upscale hotel that would complement an upper-upscale hotel like the Autograph one, the town may have to use an incentive like a Chapter 380 agreement — named for that part of Texas’s Local Government Code — that allows municipalities to give back a portion of tax revenue that a development generates in the form of grants or loans.

Realty Capital has a Chapter 380 agreement with the town for the $230 million development that will include the Autograph hotel, office building, and private social club. Under the agreement, the developer will receive economic incentives, including a grant equal to 50 percent of the hotel and occupancy tax generated by the hotel, for the first seven years after the certificate of occupancy is issued.

Realty Capital signed another Chapter 380 agreement with Flower Mound in October after the rezoning of Lakeside East, a mixed use development east of Long Prairie Road between Lakeside Parkway and Spinks Road. The hotel included in that development has not been named.

At the meeting, when Mayor Cheryl Moore brought up Chapter 380 agreements the town had with the site’s previous developer in hopes of bringing a boutique hotel with a rooftop bar, council member Janvier Werner said she didn’t think she’d be in favor of doing that again. Moore quickly clarified.

“I'm saying we have a history of 380s and if that's going to happen, we need to make sure that there's going to be extreme stipulations. I'm not in support of 380 agreements,” Moore said. “I'm not saying we should have that. I'm saying we have a history of it.”

Later, when the extended stay tag was off the table and the council members were discussing what brands would be welcome in the spot, Archie stepped back up to the mic.

“I’m happy to come back with a 380 agreement with a brand,” Archie said.

“No, that’s not what I was saying,” Moore said with a laugh.

Still, council member Schiestel said this weekend that something “like a 380” may be needed to get the kind of hotel residents want.

“There was a previous 380 and in order to get the developer to agree to certain brands that are more favorable from the public's perspective, there are economic development tools could be implemented to do that,” Schiestel said.

When the project does come to the council for a vote, it will be a different makeup on all fronts. Clare Harris will take over Place 5 from Ann Martin, but Harris won’t vote on the proposed hotel. Harris recused herself from the vote when it came to the planning and zoning commission because she lives within 200 feet of the area that is proposed for zoning changes, according to town spokeswoman Melissa Demmitt.

Harris lives next to a pocket park that is included in the zoning change, but not within 200 feet of the actual hotel lot. That is why Harris did not recuse herself on other recent projects in the area, like Marty B’s Coffee.

The project will still need a supermajority because the planning and zoning commission recommended denial. Without Harris in the mix, it requires three of the four remaining council members to vote in favor of it.