Nov. 21–Developers of an upscale, boutique hotel has secured financing for the project, overcoming one of its longest standing hurdles and moving it one step closer to completion.

Hotel Fuel is now awaiting action from the city of Midland for the project to move forward.

The $10 million hotel project, set to replace the vacant Western United Life Building at 301 W. Texas Ave., was publicly announced in July 2013, but financial negotiating and a tangle with City Council regarding parking held it back. The hotel was originally planned to open in December or early 2015, according to previous reports.

Developers and the city had an agreement to which the city receives the Building of the Southwest, west of the Hotel Fuel site. In exchange, the city creates parking spaces for the hotel after developers prove it has a financing plan.

But in April this year, council members did not grant developers a third agreement extension, as the developers did not have the financing in place. Also, despite the non-renewal of the agreement, the city kept possession of the Building of the Southwest and is still the owner of the property as of Thursday.

Sagar Kumar, manager of PNK 1 Group Investments, LLC, said the project’s financing was approved three weeks ago and has updated the city of the news.

“Now, we are just waiting for them (city of Midland) to either give us the Building (of the Southwest) back or provide us with a nearby area for parking,” Kumar said.

In the meantime, developers have performed soft demolition, or removal of indoor components, of the Western United Life Building and plan on starting asbestos abatement and demolition on Dec. 1.

Hotel Fuel will feature 145 hotel rooms, all of which will have kitchenettes, Kumar said. He added that the hotel will be mixed use, as office space will be featured on each floor.

“We’re trying to cater to the executive, or corporate traveler,” Kumar said.

The first floor plan entails the lobby with the reception desk and a restaurant. Kumar said a coffee shop is also being considered for the first floor.

When asked why Hotel Fuel is being built downtown as opposed to the west side nearby the Scharbauer Sports Complex, Kumar said no one has taken the first step to bring people downtown.

“It just takes the first person,” Kumar said. “We’ll be the first person. And later on, when the hotel is built, people will come, the small retail outlets will come, and possibly another hotel will come. But we want to change downtown because there’s so much demand already.”

If built, Hotel Fuel will join Wall Street Lofts as the first entirely new structures to be built downtown in years.