Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants hopes to do for the name Palomar what it did for Monaco — create a distinctive sub-brand that can help the company break into new markets. The company last month announced plans to expand beyond the Hotel Palomar in San Francisco to add properties in Dallas, suburban Washington, DC and other urban locations.

While the seven Hotel Monacos are located in architecturally significant or historic buildings, the new Palomars will be in modern buildings and carry a style and tone described as “tailored and elegant with signature features that reflect each hotel's location and surrounding.”

The first two properties in the expansion plan are in mixed-use developments that blend residential, retail and lodging.

The Dallas property, which will be Kimpton's first in Texas, is in the city's upscale Park Cities neighborhood. The hotel project features 198 guestrooms and 72 Hotel Palomar-branded residential units. A joint venture between Behringer Harvard and Realty America Group is developing the project. Dallas-based Three is the architect, while Cheryl Rowley is designing the interiors.

The Hotel Palomar, Arlington at Waterview, is part of a mixed-use project at the foot of Key Bridge in Arlington, VA. It will be Kimpton's seventh property in the Washington market. Architects Pei, Cobb Freed and Partners is creating a 29-story hotel/condominium tower that will have 154 hotel rooms and a signature restaurant. The tower will be adjacent to an office tower and retail and dining outlets. Developers are JBG Companies, Trizec Office Properties and CIM Group.

The Dallas Palomar will open in April 2006, while the Virginia project is slated for an August 2007 opening.