One person taking note is Missouri hotel magnate John Q. Hammons, who will soon start construction on Bricktown’s first hotel, a $20 million Residence Inn. Hammons already owns two of the three downtown hotels now operating. He also wants to build an Embassy Suites hotel in Bricktown.
 

Downtown-Bricktown is approaching the “magic” number of hotel rooms needed to attract larger conventions. That number would rise to nearly 1,000 when the Residence Inn is finished. Other hotel projects in development downtown will increase the number even more.
 

The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer this week chronicled the continued build-out of Bricktown. Developments under way or planned include not only the hotel but more offices, shops, restaurants and condominiums.
 

Anchor tenant of the district is the SBC Bricktown Ballpark. Public investment in that property and the adjacent canal has spurred tremendous interest and investment in an area that was already starting to bud when voters passed MAPS in 1993. One side of Hammons’ new hotel will overlook the canal and afford views of the developing region beyond.
 

The central city in general and Bricktown in particular need more retail to make it truly a mixed-use area. As we’ve noted before, the area badly needs a place where residents and visitors can buy groceries and toothpaste at prices comparable to the suburbs rather than a convenience store.
 

Bricktown’s bubble has yet to burst, and we see nothing but growth in the near term. Businesses will come and go, but the trend now is for more development to attract visitors — some of whom will stay overnight.
 

With each new addition to Bricktown, the lure of the area becomes more irresistible.