ALLEN, Tex.—Allen is moving forward with plans for a convention center complex.

Earlier this week, the Allen City Council approved a development agreement with TCH Altera LLC for the construction of The Convention Center at Watters Creek, an $85-million convention-hotel project that will deliver 290 guest rooms, a 64,500-square-foot convention center and a 1,000-car parking garage on seven acres at Bethany Drive and North Central Expressway, adjacent to the Watters Creek mixed-use development.

“It's a project that we've been working on and planning for a number of years,” Daniel Bowman, executive director/CEO of the Allen Economic Development Corp. (AEDC), told GlobeSt.com. “We sent an RFP out to about 40 different developers...narrowed it down to finalists. TCH is really unique.”

Bowman says the developer, who will receive an initial $12.3 million toward capital investment in the project, will announce the hotel brand in the next month.

The project is predicated on a multi-entity agreement involving the city, the AEDC and the Allen Community Development Corp. (ACDC) to jointly contribute the money and provide additional operational support over time. The AEDC will also contribute some 6.75 acres of land, which it has owned since the 1990s.

Projected to open in January 2017, the center will offer the largest convention and exhibition space among the north Dallas suburbs and will be comparable to the Gaylord, Hilton Anatole and the Sheraton Dallas hotels, according to a study by HVS.  

Ground-breaking is anticipated for this summer.