|
|
| By Rich Laden, The Gazette, Colorado
Springs, Colo.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
April 23, 2010 -- Construction will resume next month on a 300-room Renaissance Hotel on Colorado Springs' far north side, which will open late this year or in early 2011, Missouri developer John Q. Hammons said. Hammons says he has invested $47 million of his own money into the project, which includes 50,000 square feet of meeting space. But construction stopped several months ago after the building's exterior was completed, and windows and doors were boarded up. Hammons said last fall he was trying to obtain financing to complete the hotel, although the tight credit market was hampering his efforts. This week, Hammons said he has secured his financing, will close on a loan of about $70 million in a few weeks and will resume construction in May. He hopes to complete the hotel by November or December -- mid-January at the latest. The hotel, originally scheduled to be finished this summer, is part of the InterQuest Marketplace retail project east of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway. The hotel is just north of the Hollywood Theaters, which opened nearly two years ago. "You'll be shocked when you see the hotel, at how nice it is," Hammons said. The 90-year-old Hammons has developed more than 200 hotels in 40 states in a career that has spanned 52 years. Media reports that the hotel would be delayed until the middle of next year were inaccurate, Hammons said, although a hotel website continues to say the project will open in summer 2011. Meanwhile, Hammons said he remains interested in constructing a 225-room Embassy Suites hotel in a 100-acre redevelopment area in southwest downtown. <>He said he's working on financing for that project and hopes to begin construction in spring 2011.- Contact the writer at 636-0228 ----- To see more of The Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazette.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |
|
|