While Q1 and year-over-year group travel demand is up, Marriott'smeeting space in Dallas is slim,says the Dallas Renaissance GM Mark Woelffer. That's why Mark (right), JWM Family Enterprises' John Marriott,Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano, HC Beck architects' Jeffrey Forbes, and Meeting Professionals International interim CEO Cynthia D'Aoust just put shovels in the ground on 30k SF of meeting space at the Renaissance Dallas. The first available booking date is June 1, 2014, and Mark tells us his team has a few good leads, plus one 2016 booking. (It's alien overlords after they take over, right?)

The addition will rise on a 50k SF footprint on current surface parking, which will be replaced by two stories of subterranean parking that'll start Monday. The hotel has 20k SF now, with the largest room just shy of 5,000 SF. The $20M, two-story expansion includes a 16k SF Grand Ballroom and will be Marriott's largest meeting space in the city, filling a hole for brand loyalists.