During its Nov. 20 and 21 quarterly meeting, the Texas State University System Board of Regents (TSUS) authorized Texas State University to build a hotel on campus and reestablished the Faculty Senate.
The proposed hotel would be located at 429 and 403 N. Guadalupe St., which is beside Tower Hall, with a 75-year ground lease with two possible extensions for 3.04 acres.
Nina Farrell, executive director of JLL government and education advisory, said the location of the hotel is an ideal spot due its proximity to San Marcos and Texas State Campus.
“Here we have the project next to Tower Hall, Tower garage, and it’s really on the southeast of campus, near the river, a short drive to Strahan Coliseum in the stadium, but perhaps most importantly, it’s a bridge to downtown, between the campus and the community,” Farrell said during the meeting.
The four-star hotel is estimated to cost $70 to 75 million, which will include 130 guest rooms, meeting and event space and a full-service restaurant and bar.
According to Farrel, there will be parking available adjacent to the Tower Garage parking lot for guests.
“The ground rent is going to be the greater of $200,000 annually, or 1% of gross revenues,” Farrel said. “There’s also a parking agreement that will generate approximately $180,000 for the university each year.”
Farrell said the process of proposing the hotel was an intentional process, with a market analysis in 2023, gaining the development partner, Midway Hospitality, L.P., in 2024 and San Marcos City Council approval in August.
“The city and county is investing 10.5 million over the first 10 years of the project where it will need financial support,” Farrell said. “They’re doing that through sales tax revenue, sales tax on materials and hotel tax occupancy rebates.”
Page Stantec, the company designing the hotel, has previously finished Texas State’s Campus Master Plan.
Construction for the hotel is expected to start in 2026 and be completed by 2028.
“The hotel will be the only full-service facility of its type near downtown San Marcos. It is expected to provide [Texas State] greater flexibility in hosting state and national conferences and events while simultaneously boosting tourism and driving economic growth,” Jayme Blaschke, assistant director of media relations, wrote in a Texas State press release.
Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said the hotel hits the three goals that were set in 2022: elevating the campus experience, sustainable revenue stream, and additional economic development and growth.
“As you may know, there are no hotels in downtown San Marcos, and this will be the first, what we hope will be others as well,” Damphousse said.
TSUS reestablished Texas State University’s 68th Faculty Senate, officially replacing the temporary Faculty Advisory Group on Jan. 1, 2026.
In order to comply with SB 37, TSUS dissolved all faculty senates on Sept. 1 and gave university presidents the power to create new faculty advisory groups until approved by TSUS.
The Faculty Senate will be composed of 17 members, half appointed by Damphousse and half elected by the faculty.
Kevin Jetton, professor of instruction in McCoy College of Business and secretary of the 68th Faculty Senate wrote in an email to The Star, the senate will act as if they are officially reinstated for the rest of the fall semester.
Jetton wrote that the faculty advisory group created a new set of bylaws and went through multiple rounds of editing and reviews.
“I personally took on that challenge knowing that time and exactness were of the utmost importance given what was at stake ensuring a quick pathway for review and approval cycles ahead by the appropriate parties,” Jetton said.
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