Officials said groundbreaking for the hotel in the Katy Boardwalk Project is expected this summer, with the hotel expected open for fall convention season in 2024.

Katy City Administrator Byron Hebert and Kingham Dalton Wilson President/CEO Keith Dalton shared the latest news about the project at a Feb. 8 meeting of the West I-10 Chamber of Commerce, held at Los Cucos Mexican Restaurant, 5831 Highway Blvd.

The Katy Boardwalk Project’s hotel, expected to be a Hilton Curio, has yet to be named. But with the ongoing commercial growth of the Katy area, the city expects the Boardwalk—and the hotel and convention center in particular—to become a significant economic resource.

Visualizing the commercial possibilities for the Boardwalk site along Kingsland Avenue, directly across from the Katy Mills Mall, has been in the works for over a decade, Hebert said. But the actual movement on the project began in 2015.

“There was a time when there was a pond that was built behind the mall,” Hebert said. ‘It was a retention pond.”

Hebert said he was told the land was worthless, but when he expressed interest on behalf of the city for buying the land, the price suddenly went up. But the city went ahead and is working with developers to build the Boardwalk. Dalton said things are back on track following the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re back on, and we’ve got a ton of momentum,” Dalton said, adding that he was excited that the new hotel will be part of the Hilton chain. Actual name will come after going through the branding process, he said.

Yet as important as the hotel will be to Katy’s economy, both it and the convention center are only part of the overall project.

“We have what’s called our retail and entertainment district,” Dalton said. “The hotel and conference center are designed to be south- facing on the lake, so it’s going to be beautiful. We call it the suburban oasis.”

Dalton said the hotel and convention center would be a 30-minute drive from Houston’s central business district and would have a state-of-the-art, post-COVID-19 design. He said it would host all kinds of events. Including more weddings “than I can shake a stick at.”

Dalton said the entertainment district is meant to compliment the hotel and conference center. The district is also expected to compliment the two Katy Boardwalk Lofts apartment complexes. The first phase opened last October. Dalton said he was resident 001.

“There’s life at the boardwalk now,” Dalton said, urging people who have not visited the site, particularly the lake, to go and see for themselves.

“It is a hidden gem,” Dalton said. “Walk to the lake and see.”

Hebert said that a traffic light is planned for the Kingsland-Katy Fort Bend Road intersection.