Marble Falls breaks ground on Ophelia
New renderings of The Ophelia Hotel were on display at the project’s groundbreaking on Aug. 23, 2024, in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Marble Falls city leaders hosted the official groundbreaking for the long-awaited Ophelia Hotel and Conference Center on Friday, Aug. 23. Ceremonial golden shovels dug into the site near Lakeside Park. The project is expected to be completed by the spring of 2026.
Dozens of people turned out for the event to mark the culmination of several years of work and collaboration between the city and developers.
“There has been so much planning, so much preparation that has gone into this,” said Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Christian Fletcher to kick off the ceremony. “We want to fulfill some potential here.”
The EDC teamed up with Phoenix Hospitality Group on the project in 2019, but plans were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, exploding inflation in 2022, and turnover in development partners. Now, construction is set to begin in October.
“This project has had some ups and downs,” Ian McClure, Phoenix Hospitality’s director of development, told DailyTrib.com at the ceremony. “But we’re from the Hill Country—Boerne born and raised—so we like vesting back into the Hill Country with projects like this. The lakes, the water, everything like that is a huge draw, but I think it comes down to the community.”
The Ophelia will overlook Lake Marble Falls and occupy the empty lot at the intersection of Main Street and Buena Vista Drive near Lakeside Park.
The latest designs show The Ophelia standing five stories with the hotel spreading across 96,000 square-feet and the attached conference center taking up 10,000 square-feet. The facility will have a restaurant and bar, a second-floor outdoor patio overlooking the lake, and 127 suite-style rooms. It is a Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel.
Named after Marble Falls’ first woman mayor, Ophelia “Birdie” Harwood, the hotel/conference center will be an homage to the city.
“The design is really built around the city and the environment, so this is really taking on the look of historic downtown Marble Falls,” Brandon Wallace, the project’s general contractor and president of Alamo System Industries, told DailyTrib.com.
Marble Falls City Councilor Richard Westerman said the hotel and conference center will satisfy the need for a high-end meeting space in the city.
He acknowledged it could be difficult balancing Marble Falls’ small-town atmosphere with vigorous economic development, but the project is worth the effort.
“It is a challenge to juggle (the need for growth and maintaining the traditional culture of Marble Falls); however, you have to always be improving,” he told DailyTrib.com. “This is absolutely what the city has needed.”
The Ophelia is the result of a public-private partnership between the city of Marble Falls and the project developers.
Phoenix Hospitality Group and Castle Hospitality are funding the build-out and managing the facility, and the EDC contributed about $7.6 million in total value to the project, including the land the hotel will sit on.
The hotel is expected to make a $200-million economic impact on Marble Falls in the 10 years following its completion.
The EDC is funded by a half-cent sales tax in the city limits that Marble Falls residents voted to establish in 1991. Its funds can only be used to retain, expand, and attract businesses and industry to the city and foster the retention, creation, and reinvestment of wealth in the Marble Falls community.
5 thoughts on “Marble Falls breaks ground on Ophelia”
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The city gave the developer the land…..anyone miss that little bit of information?
Imagine where our city could have been if the $8mil gifted to the developer was funneled back into community support, improved parks facilities, clean roads….we could go on.
Instead we have to look at a construction eye sore we funded for how many years now?
That is not what the city absolutely needed councilman. It is what a select group of whose who in marble falls Wanted. Their Pet project.
Ah…so that’s why they condemned those houses when they could have saved them and built those new retaining walls.
Yep.
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