Sports Illustrated Resorts will not be moving forward with its planned location at the Lago Mar Crystal Lagoon in Texas City. According to a source familiar with the project, Sports Hospitality Ventures, which licenses the SI Resorts brand, has withdrawn from the development.
The resort was first announced in January 2024 and was set to include a 200-room, six-story hotel along with amenities such as a restaurant, beach club, cabanas, and a swim-up island bar. The design was to be handled by Project Luong of Houston and managed by American Resort Management based in Grand Prairie, in partnership with Travel + Leisure. Despite plans for construction to begin in the third quarter of last year, no progress was made.
The source indicated that Sports Hospitality Ventures stopped communicating with Land Tejas, the developer behind Lago Mar’s 2,033-acre master-planned community. This is supported by city records; Texas City engineer Kim Golden stated earlier this year that there have been no applications submitted for a resort at that site. Zoning regulations allow either a hotel or townhomes on the property.
Sports Illustrated Resorts began in 2023 through an agreement between Sports Hospitality Ventures and Authentic Brands Group, which owns the magazine’s intellectual property. The proposed Texas City resort was intended as part of a larger $100 million entertainment district surrounding the lagoon. The area already features public attractions like Lagoonfest Texas and private resident spaces. A boardwalk featuring retail stores, dining options, and condos was also envisioned as part of future development plans.
Wan Bridge delivered Crystal View at Lago Mar—a 151-unit townhome project—last year; however, no progress occurred on the resort itself.
Other planned Sports Illustrated Resorts have faced similar setbacks across various locations. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for example, a resort lost its hotel component according to local news reports. Projects in Mississippi were put on hold pending lower interest rates while one proposed for Ann Arbor, Michigan was canceled after opposition from officials and residents. Even an Orlando location previously promoted by SI Resorts is no longer listed on their website.
Currently, only one SI Resort is operational—in the Dominican Republic since 2022—with additional sites in Chicago and Nashville marked as “coming soon.” The Chicago location will take over Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotel Chicago site.
Meanwhile, The Lagoon Development Company continues expanding its lagoon projects around Greater Houston using Crystal Lagoons’ water treatment technology. New lagoons are underway or opening soon in Dayton, Magnolia, Katy and other areas linked to entertainment districts.
