'Fixer Upper' stars turning office building into downtown hotel
Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of HGTV’s "Fixer Upper," are scaling up.
The couple announced Thursday that they plan to transform a 91-year-old office building in Waco, Texas into a boutique downtown hotel. The unnamed project is expected to open to the public in 2021.
Magnolia Vacation Rentals, one of the Gaines’ several real estate businesses, purchased the aging property from McLennan County commissioners for $930,000, per the Associated Press. The county also agreed to sell a nearby parking garage for $500,000.
Photo: Magnolia
Magnolia is working with AJ Capital, renowned in the industry for their work on creatively designed hotels, to bring the project to life.
“When we first toured the nearly one-hundred-year-old building,” Joanna Gaines said in an announcement, “we were amazed by the unique architecture and how much of it was still intact. Instantly, we knew we wanted to be a part of making this place sing again.”
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The 53,000-square-foot property lies within walking distance of the couples’ $10 million Magnolia Market at the Silos, a popular local retail spot that exemplifies Chip and Joanna’s vision. “If you’ve followed our work, you might notice a pattern,” Joanna states in the announcement, “that time and time again, Chip and I are drawn to projects that emphasize the value of home.”
“Home is a feeling,” she continues, “created by and for the people you love and share your life with; it’s a state of being known and loved just as you are. That is our dream for this hotel—that it would serve as an extension of the way we feel about our own home and all it represents to us, and that every guest who comes to stay would experience that same sense of belonging and community.”