Chicago-based Great Wolf Resorts Inc. has broken ground on its first indoor water park and hotel in the Houston area.
The hospitality company said construction started this month on Great Wolf Lodge Gulf Coast in Webster, Texas, which is about 25 miles southeast of downtown Houston. Once the resort opens in 2024, it will join a location in the Dallas area in Grapevine as the only two Great Wolf Lodge resorts in the Lone Star State. The Webster location marks the 22nd Great Wolf Lodge resort in North America.
The Great Wolf Lodge in Webster will have 532 hotel rooms, a 95,000-square-foot indoor water park and a 58,000-square-foot Great Wolf Adventure Park on 27 acres. Plans also include 11,000 square feet of conference space. The resort will be part of the Flyway at Clear Creek development, located east of the Gulf Freeway and south of the NASA Bypass.
“With millions of families visiting our resort in Grapevine, we know Texas families love the Great Wolf Lodge experience," Great Wolf Resorts CEO Murray Hennessy said in a statement.
The project represents an investment of at least $200 million that is being provided by Great Wolf Lodge shareholders Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners, according to the statement. Great Wolf Resorts is expected to receive financial incentives from the city of Webster for the project, as well as a hotel occupancy tax abatement agreement with Harris County over 10 years.
Turner Construction is the project's general contractor and expects 600 construction and trade workers to be on-site during peak construction times, according to the statement. Great Wolf Resorts is looking to hire 500 full-time and part-time workers for the Webster location, including in senior management, engineering, information technology and guest services roles.
Great Wolf Lodge Gulf Coast is just the latest resort being built in the Houston area since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Margaritaville Lake Resort on Lake Conroe, which is about 50 miles north of downtown Houston, opened in 2020, marking the first resort in Texas for the brand that is named after Jimmy Buffett's hit song.
But more Margaritaville-themed properties are in the works across Texas.
Camp Margaritaville RV Resort Crystal Beach is set to open in November on the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston, Texas. It will replace Bolivar Beach Club & RV Resort, which opened last year. The 150-acre oceanfront property will feature a swimming pool with swim-up bar, private cabanas, turf playing field, a beachside outdoor concert and entertainment venue, restaurants and bars with panoramic views of the Gulf of Mexico, and resort-quality RV accommodations.
In addition, three Latitude Margaritaville master-planned developments for active adults who are 55 and older are planned for the Austin, Dallas and Houston markets. The Latitude Margaritaville projects in Texas are being developed through a joint venture between Margaritaville Holdings and Minto Communities USA.