April 5, 2023 722 PM
MARFA — Hotelier Tim Crowley plans to construct a new 47-room hotel on the southernmost edge of town along U.S. Highway 67, according to documents obtained by The Big Bend Sentinel through an open records request. The project is slated to be built on a 1.8-acre tract of land abutting the Cordero Trailer Park land and directly across from Marfa’s Border Patrol Station.
Design schematics by Houston-based firm MCS Architects show a fairly minimal design, devoid of guest amenities save for a laundry room. Per the plan, the 47 guest rooms would be spread across three floors, with private patios facing east and west. The development will include 75 parking spaces, per the plans.
Records show that a building permit application was first filed with the city in September of 2021 — which was approved — then was renewed in October of last year. The most recent permit is good for two years.
Records show that the property was owned by Felipe Cordero until 2008, when he sold it to developer Sammy Bhakta. According to detailed meetings notes kept by then-Marfa City Councilmember David Beebe, Bhakta appeared before council in 2009 requesting zoning on the land be changed from residential to commercial, which council approved.
Bhakta sold the land to current owner Cordero Property LLC — the registered agent for which is Tim Crowley — in September of 2021, weeks before the initial building permit application was filed with the city. Crowley Development LLC is listed as the contractor on the permit application.
Crowley could not be reached for comment by press time. Employees at the hotelier’s development company referred The Big Bend Sentinel to a representative for Crowley, who did not return a request for comment. MCS Architects also did not return a request for comment on the project.
Marfa’s public utilities supervisor, Chuck Salgado, said that the city had connected the property to sewer lines late last year after being contacted by the developer. He plans to connect it to the city’s water infrastructure this month, he said, and plans to install a fire hydrant at the site soon. He was unsure when construction on the building would begin, but anticipates it may begin in the near future.
“They haven’t given me [a timeline of] when they start building,” said Salgado. “I think it’s going to be soon, because we’re going to be putting in a fire hydrant there as well — I know they really wanted that hydrant in before they started construction.”
Crowley has also planned to build a 47-room hotel, equipped with a pool and spa on U.S. Highway 90, at the former site of the Apache Pines RV Park and the Stardust Motel. The status of that project, which sits just outside Marfa city limits, was not immediately clear.
