Apr. 30, 2007 - The boom in hotel development is spreading beyond the core of downtown Minneapolis and into neighboring areas.

In addition to two hotels planned for Uptown, plans for another hotel on the edge of downtown near the Minneapolis Convention Center are moving forward. Developers of the 210-room hotel at 1125 4th Av. S. recently were awarded a franchise to operate the hotel as a Hilton Garden Inn, a midpriced brand of Hilton Corp.

The hotel will be the second project for Minneapolis-based Global One Commercial, a development and brokerage business formed last year by Mark Globus, Scott Hoffman and Brett Hildreth. The company also is developing a 40,000-square-foot condominium office project at 219 S. 4th St.

Globus said Global One talked with several hotel management companies before deciding to make the property a Hilton Garden Inn. He said the partners were interested in a mid-priced alternative to the crop of upscale hotels that have recently opened or are planned for the downtown market.

Hilton Garden Inns typically have been located in suburbs. Others in the Twin Cities area include hotels in Shoreview, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Eagan and Oakdale.

But the chain has begun to expand to urban areas. Next month a Hilton Garden Inn will open in downtown St. Paul.

Construction of the Minneapolis hotel will start late in May, with completion set for July 2006, Globus said.

Susan Feyder -- 612-673-1723 -- [email protected]

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