Mar. 8--Two hotels are in the works for one of the last large tracts of undeveloped land in Midtown Anchorage. 

And a developer hopes the hotels will spark restaurants, offices and perhaps retail to fill in the rest of the property. 

The first hotel -- a 125-room Hilton Garden Inn -- would be built near the southeast corner of Tudor Road and C Street. 

Navin Dimond, president of Denver-based Stonebridge Companies, said Wednesday he recently bought the land and plans to begin construction on the four-story hotel this summer, with it opening next year. His firm also owns the nearby Hampton Inn Hotel. 

Another hotel is planned for the northeast corner of C and International Airport Road, said Bruce Burnett, an Anchorage developer. 

Burnett said he represents the landowner, which recently leased part of the parcel to a developer who intends to build a hotel with about 100 rooms. Burnett declined to reveal the developer's name. 

If the hotels are built, that would still leave a long strip of undeveloped land along C between Tudor and International. Counting the hotel sites, the land totals about 27 acres. 

"This is prime, prime real estate," Burnett said. "There are a few other undeveloped parcels in Midtown, but they're either small or not ready to develop like this land." 

Burnett is trying to attract a couple of national restaurant chains, an office building and maybe a store for the rest of the property. 

But in the development business, plans can change overnight. 

Last year, for instance, Recreational Equipment Inc. was looking at whether to replace its Anchorage store with a slightly larger one at Tudor and C. Yet several months later, REI said it was no longer interested and would remain at its Northern Lights Boulevard store. 

Three groups each own large chunks of land between Tudor and International. They are Union Square Development Co., Tiger Trust and Alaska USA Federal Credit Union. 

Burnett represents Union Square and Tiger Trust. 

Union Square recently bought its 13 acres from Exxon Inc., subsequently selling a small piece to Stonebridge for its Hilton Garden Inn, Burnett said. 

The Hilton Garden would cater to business travelers and have a restaurant, exercise room and 4,000 square feet of meeting space. Rates would start at $109 a night, said Dimond, Stonebridge's president. 

The Hilton Garden is the latest in a string of newly built hotels in Anchorage. In the past few years, 11 new hotels -- with more than 1,700 rooms -- have opened. 

Despite the growing competition, Dimond said he's "not too worried" about opening another hotel. Anchorage's economic future looks bright and there should be plenty of business to go around, he said. 

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(c) 2001, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.