The Sheraton Dallas Hotel, formerly the Adam's Mark Hotel and originally the Southland Center, is a complex of
International Style International style may refer to:
* International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture
*International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art
*International Style (dancing), a term used in ...
downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has tradit ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The hotel is the largest and second tallest hotel in Dallas and Texas with 1,840 guest rooms and of meeting space. It has been host to pop culture conventions such as
Project A-Kon
A-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held during June at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance, A-Kon is North America's longest runn ...
and
TwiCon
TwiCon was an unofficial ''Twilight'' fan convention which was held at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel from July 30 to August 2, 2009. TwiCon featured a movie screening, live ''Twilight''-inspired band performances, a Volturi Masque Ball, opportunitie ...
.
History
The complex was originally designed by Welton Becket & Associates from Los Angeles for the Southland Life Insurance Company.Adam's Mark Hotel . ''Dallas Architecture''. Retrieved 2010-10-21. When groundbreaking for the buildings took place in 1955 it was compared to Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, as Southland Center was the first mixed-use project in downtown containing both hotel and office space.
Southland Center was the second major development in the northeast end of downtown now known as the City Center District. The original two buildings, completed in 1958, consisted of the 42-story center tower, the Southland Life Building, and the 28 story south tower, the 510-room Sheraton-Dallas Hotel. Celebrities Johnny Weissmuller and June Lockhart appeared at the dedication ceremony in 1959. In early 1981, the 31 story (448 ft) north Skyway Tower was added as additional office space. All three buildings are rectangular slab structures resting on a common base. The facade was covered with curtain walls of glass and 1,000+ spandrel panels of light weight precast concrete faced with blue Italian glass mosaic tiles.
The Southland Life Building overtook the Republic National Bank Building and became from 1959 to 1964 the tallest in the city and the tallest building west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
. Its height was later surpassed in the city by
Republic Center Tower II
Republic Center is a mixed-use complex at 300 N. Ervay Street and 325 N. St. Paul Street in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA), adjacent to Thanks-giving Square. The complex is located diagonally across the street from DART' ...
. For many years after the building's opening, the most exclusive restaurant in downtown Dallas was the Chaparral Club on the 37th floor, and an observation deck occupied the top of the tower.
Southland Life vacated the complex when
Cityplace Center
The Cityplace Tower is a 42-story building located at 2711 North Haskell Avenue at North Central Expressway (US 75) in the Cityplace district of Uptown Dallas, Texas (USA). The building is tall and has of office space. It is also the tallest bu ...
opened in 1988. The hotel tower left the Sheraton chain in 1990 and was renamed the Harvey Hotel in 1994. In 1990, a central tower addition of 25 floors and bay windows was proposed to make the complex competitive to newer projects going up in the city. However, the office towers remained vacant until 1996, when HBE Corp. purchased the entire 1.5 million-square-foot complex from
New York Life
New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company in the United States, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and is ranked #67 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States ...
, as well as the entire block across the street, for a total of $40 million. At a further cost of $170 million, HBE redeveloped all three towers into one large hotel and built a convention center on the adjacent block, linked by skybridges. The Harvey Hotel tower remained open throughout the work. HBE placed the finished hotel within their
Adam's Mark
Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts was a chain of upscale hotels in the United States. The company was headquartered in the HBE Corporation offices in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis.DART's adjacent light rail line and
Pearl Station
Pearl Street/Arts District station (formerly Pearl station) is a DART Light Rail station located in Dallas, Texas. It is located on Bryan Street, east of Pearl Street, in the City Center District. It opened June 14, 1996, and is the easternmost ...
were major factors in converting the complex into a first-rate convention facility. A parking garage and 3-story convention building were constructed on an adjoining block to the southwest, and the building's facade of glass mosaics was painted gray during the building's conversion.
In 2007, the Adam's Mark Dallas was among hotels in the chain sold to Oxford Lodging Group who re-branded it as a Sheraton, returning the complex to the hotel's original name from nearly fifty years before, the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. A $90 million project began in 2009 to renovate guestrooms, public spaces, and the convention center. In summer 2018, the hotel launched another renovation which added a rooftop garden, new entrance and redesigns of public spaces, meeting and guest rooms. The work finished in November 2019.