While Dallas city officials tussle over plans to build a convention center hotel, two developers have quietly started work on one.

Ted and Larry Hamilton's Aloft hotel project on Young Street is just south of the Dallas Convention Center.

"We are the closest hotel to the front door," said Ted Hamilton, who plans to have the boutique hotel open in 16 months.

Last week, crews from Andres Construction began work to turn an 83-year-old building at 1033 Young St. into a luxury hotel.

The project will be Starwood Hotels & Resorts' first Aloft hotel in Dallas.

Built as a warehouse for the Santa Fe Railway, the eight-story brick building has been vacant for more than a decade. Hamilton Properties is converting the 160,000-square-foot structure into a 193-room hotel.

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"The Starwood people are describing this as an Aloft on steroids," said Larry Hamilton. "It will cost $34 million."