"I've never seen a place that would argue for a greasy street over green space in a park," Grand Galvez owner Mark Wyant told The Daily News in late September. He was replying to neighbors who oppose his hotel's request to take over the block of Avenue P between 20th and 21st streets, which runs behind the 2024 Seawall Blvd. property, and turn it into a landscaped park.
Plenty of people on the East End remember this fight. The city turned down a nearly identical request in 2022. The 2026 version has been redrawn to address the specific objection that defeated the first one, and that changes what the Planning Commission on Oct. 20 and City Council on Nov. 12 will actually be weighing. The fire access problem has a proposed fix this time. Traffic and notice are still open questions.
What the hotel is asking the city for
The city would give up roughly 21,000 square feet of public right-of-way on Avenue P between 20th and 21st streets. City documents say the hotel would turn it into a green space open to both guests and the public, with landscaping, artificial turf, lighting, removable bollards, tree planters, benches and dog-care areas. People could still walk through, and emergency vehicles could still drive through when needed.
Wyant says the hotel would pay market value for the street and spend more than $750,000 on improvements, and that the park would stay open to the public. Hotel officials describe it as a safer route on foot between the hotel and its parking lot, plus a gathering spot for residents and guests.
City staff recommended two conditions. One keeps access to a sanitary sewer line that runs under the right-of-way. The other requires a traffic study of what closing the block would do.
2022 versus 2026, side by side
In 2022 the hotel pitched closing the street as an aesthetic and safety upgrade, pointing to speeding and crashes on the block. The Planning Commission voted against recommending the abandonment, and Commissioner Steven Peña was the only member reported in favor. The fire marshal and fire chief objected that closing the street could make emergency access harder. The owners later withdrew a related request to council. By then the city had received 38 letters on the issue, and 37 were opposed.
| 2022 request | 2026 request | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Avenue P, 20th to 21st streets | Same block, about 21,000 sq ft |
| Planning Commission | Voted against recommending, Oct. 18, 2022 | Deferred unanimously Sept. 22 at the hotel's request, now set for Oct. 20 |
| Emergency access | Fire chief and fire marshal objected | Turf plates built to carry emergency vehicles, removable bollards |
| Park features | Green space behind the hotel | Turf, lighting, benches, planters, dog-care areas, public access |
| Public response | 38 letters, 37 opposed | Letter from eight nearby residents opposing |
| Outcome or next step | Owners withdrew council request | City Council scheduled for Nov. 12 |
Wyant says the new proposal is "substantially different" because the turf plates provide emergency access and because of the added park features. Architect David Watson told the paper the proposal had been put forward "over two years ago with the same facts." Comparing the two plans, both statements hold up. The location and the basic request haven't changed. The engineering response to the fire department has. Attorney Angel Wall says the turf plates still don't resolve her concerns about how emergency vehicles would reach the surrounding blocks.
Where 1,300 cars a day would go
The traffic numbers are what Oct. 20 will turn on. City documents count about 1,300 vehicles a day on the block that would close and about 2,200 on the next block west, between 21st and 22nd streets. So the block behind the hotel carries a bit under 60% of its neighbor's volume. That's well above zero, and it's the kind of traffic you'd expect on a street people use as a through route.
The two sides read those cars differently. Wall expects closing the block would push traffic onto nearby residential streets, especially 21st Street, Avenue O 1/2 and Avenue P 1/2. She also points to a retirement home, a Head Start program and the county's Sunshine Center a few blocks away along 21st Street. Wyant says the hotel's own study found something else: "Most people use P as an alternate route for seawall due to congestion."
Both readings can be true at once, and that's why the study matters. If Avenue P is mostly a Seawall bypass, closing one block reroutes people who wanted to avoid Seawall Boulevard. They might go back to the Seawall, or they might cut through the half-avenues. The hotel's study and the city-required study should show which. As of Sept. 30, the city's CivicClerk page for the Planning Commission had no meeting files posted and still said agenda information would appear "once published."
The notice question sits right next to the traffic one. Wall says she never received notice of the Sept. 22 hearing, heard about it from a neighbor days beforehand, and knows she was not the only nearby resident who missed it. Because the hotel asked for the deferral, nearby residents now have about three weeks before Oct. 20 that they didn't have before Sept. 22.
The beach patch went through the same sequence
The Avenue P request follows a pattern that has already played out across Seawall Boulevard. Each step there turned a piece of hotel-owned edge into an amenity that is free for guests and open to the public for a price.
The Grand Galvez owns a quarter-acre triangle of beach in front of the 219-room hotel and has held it since 1911. Here is how that patch has changed:
- June 2024: A sign advertising chairs for hotel guests on the patch drew questions from islanders about public beach access. Wyant said people could still walk the beach and only the chairs were reserved. He noted that the Texas Open Beaches Act passed in 1959, long after the hotel acquired the beach, and that other privately held beaches on the island include Porretto Beach.
- July 2025: GiGi Beach Club opened with pink cushioned chaises, chairside service, cocktails and a menu of coastal bites. Guests sat free and the public paid a charge, first come, first served, with a wood walkway separating the two areas.
- July 2026: The city permitted two power poles along the seawall and a raised electrical platform so a food truck could run on the beach. The Texas General Land Office granted an aerial easement for the line. City spokeswoman Marissa Barnett said the platform sits on private property and "does not affect public beach access." Wyant described a full-size club with DJs, live entertainment and seating for up to 200, and said he hoped to open it in late August.
As of Sept. 30, no coverage or announcement confirmed that the expanded format had opened. The hotel's GiGi page currently lists beachside dining, cocktails, curated music, and day rentals for non-guests at $65 for two chairs and an umbrella or $45 for one chair and an umbrella, with food and drinks extra.
At each step on the beach, the city confirmed permits and said public access was unaffected. The Avenue P plan follows the same template on public land. The hotel gets a guest amenity, the public keeps access, and the hotel pays for the improvements. What's different is that the beach patch was already the hotel's property, and Avenue P belongs to the city until council votes.
What the hotel already offers people who live nearby
The investment behind these requests is large. Mark and Lorenda Wyant bought the hotel in 2021 from the heirs of George P. Mitchell for $50 million, then spent another $50 million on renovations that brought back its original pink. In June 2026 the hotel opened a 5,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, built by redesigning the former Veranda and Terrace spaces. It seats 375 or holds 500 for a reception.
Most of what is open to non-guests is inside the building, according to the hotel's current listings:
- Monarch Restaurant: breakfast 7 to 11 a.m., lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., dinner 5 to 10 p.m., with Gulf seafood, steaks and an oyster bar
- The Founders Bar: 3 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday, noon to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday
- Sunday brunch: marketed to guests and locals, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., reservations recommended
- Saturday afternoon tea: seatings at 2, 3 and 4 p.m.
- 1911 Espresso Bar: daily, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Spa: daily, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Wall frames the request as part of a broader trend of the city putting business and visitor interests ahead of residents, and she called giving up the right-of-way "corporate welfare." Wyant's position is that the city would be paid market value for the street, and residents would get a lit, landscaped park with dog areas where there is now pavement. City Council has final authority, and its vote is scheduled for Nov. 12, three weeks after the Planning Commission takes the request back up on Oct. 20.
Questions like what a park, a closed block or a busier half-avenue does to a home near 21st and Seawall come up in our work all the time, and they're hard to answer from a press release. If you own on the East End and want to talk through how this block could change around you, Jennifer Delaney follows these hearings closely. Let's connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
