At the Rosenberg City Council Workshop Meeting on September 23, Fort Bend County officials presented plans for the Fort Bend County EpiCenter Hotel and Convention Center Project, according to a September 25 press release from the City of Rosenberg.
The project will include a full-service hotel with 254 rooms, including a connected 70,000-square-foot convention center, and two parking garages with a combined total of more than 2,600 spaces. The west garage will provide 1,527 spaces, and the east garage will include 1,087 spaces. Funding for the project will be shared between Fort Bend County and a private developer. The County will fund the parking garages and convention center at approximately $160 million, while the developer will build and own the hotel at an estimated $75 million investment. As part of the proposal, Fort Bend County requested that the City of Rosenberg contribute its 7% hotel occupancy tax (HOT) generated solely from this hotel back to the County for a period of 30 years. This would be the City’s only investment in the project, and importantly, any future HOT funds from potential additional hotels built as a result of this development would be retained by the City and would not be subject to this agreement. The EpiCenter Hotel and Convention Center Project is expected to enhance the existing Fort Bend EpiCenter facility, spur further development opportunities in the area, and assist in positioning Rosenberg as a regional destination for tourism, conferences and entertainment. Following the presentation, the consensus of Rosenberg City Council was in favor of moving forward with the project and placing the item on a future agenda for official vote.