HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Downtown’s historic Battelstein’s retail building is being developed as an expansion of the JW Marriott Houston Downtown hotel on Main Street.
The redevelopment of the 10-story Battelstein’s building will add 56 hotel rooms and 10,000 SF of meeting space to the JW Marriott, a prime example of a Main Street building gaining new life with a conversion to hospitality.
Battelstein’s began operating at this 812 Main location in 1924 and it eventually become a key downtown retailer alongside Sakowitz, Joske’s and Foley’s before the suburbanization of a fast-growing Houston eroded downtown’s position as the primary retailing locale.
Under the direction of famed local architect, Joseph Finger, the Battelstein’s property ultimately reached its current 10-story height in 1950.
In November 2022, the vacant Battelstein’s building was acquired by the owners of the adjoining JW Marriott -the Nashville and San Diego-based real estate investment company, Southwest Value Partners.
The expansion will create a seamless integration with hotel’s 22-story Samuel F. Carter Building, the 1910 BeauxArts architectural treasure rechristened as the JW Marriott Houston Downtown in 2014.
The design of the hotel revelopment is being directed by Lauren Rottet’s, Rottet Studio, whose recent hospitality work spns Viking Cruises’ Aton and John Goff’s new Crescent Hotel in Fort Worth.
Los Angeles-based Cole Martinez Curtis & Associates brings its deep expertise in five-star hospitality environments, such as Canyon Ranch Woodside and LUMA Hotel San Francisco, to the renovation of the main building. Houston’s Arch-Con Corporation is serving as general contractor.
The 10,000-SF expansion of hotel’s meeting space, bringing the total to approximately 23,500 SF, elevates the ability of JW Marriott to attract larger groups and conferences.
The Battelstein’s development also adds momentum to the Main Street Promenade, which will transform seven blocks of Main Street into a walkable retail environment.
Another historic Main Street building, the Scanlan Building, an 11-story office at the corner of Main and Preston was recently acquired by SLTX Capital for a hospitality conversion, as reported by Realty News Report in an exclusive story in January. The 116-year-old building will become a Canopy by Hilton hotel.
June 17, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT PODCAST
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Sam Scott of CommGate
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Lacee Jacobs of Rebel Retail Advisors
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Danny Rice of Colliers
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Trey Odom of Avera
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Kris Larson of Downtown Houston +
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Jim Carman of Howard Hughes Holdings
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Jeff Havsy of Moody’s Analytics
LISTEN: THE RALPH BIVINS PROJECT with Sam Scott of CommGate
Rendering courtesy Southwest Value Partners
File: Old Battelstein’s Store to Become JW Marriott Expansion Battelstein’s Old Battelstein’s Store to Become JW Marriott Expansion