Is Something About to Happen With the Old Statler Hilton Downtown? Um, Maybe?

At some point this morning I happened onto the Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum -- specifically, the most recent Urban Development page related to the Statler Hilton downtown. And there I espied this posting from yesterday: "A deal has been made, a design team and contractor has already been hired and a press conference will be held within a week or so. I have seen some activity around the building already. I think after 20 or so deals falling apart it has finally happened!" Well.

But, of course, we've been down this road before. So I called Tom Keen -- the Plano attorney who counts among his clients the Hong Kong-based owners of the old hotel -- to find out if this was true.

"I am not allowed to say," he told Unfair Park this morning.

We talked for a while -- meaning, I asked him a bunch of questions, and he tried to answer them as best he could without saying too much. When I asked if this was looking like a done deal, he said, "I think so." When I asked if this was another tease or something more tangible, he said, "I think we're further along this time than we have been in the past." And though he wouldn't say with whom the deal was being done, he did say, "A number of people have looked at the property in the past, and this is one we've talked to -- I am just not sure how visible they've been."

He insists, you'll be the first to know if something happens: "If we get there, there will be a formal announcement." He just won't say when. Or with whom. Or where. Or ...