March 07, 2012--JUPITER -- A smaller Courtyard by Marriott hotel near Roger Dean Stadium was approved tonight by the town council.

The new plan calls for 128 rooms, down from the original 160 approved by the town council in 2008. The square footage also drops from 86,000 to 60,000 square feet. The height remains four stories.

"The developers plan to open for (spring training) baseball next year," said Don Hearing, a land planner representing the owners of the property, Miami-based Jupiter CY LLC.

The slow economy kept construction from beginning. The developers paid $3.9 million for the 1.5-acre parcel in 2008, according to county records.

Building the hotel, estimated to cost $20 million, is a step in developing the block adjacent to Abacoa's downtown.

The block, at Main Street and University Boulevard, is the site of the still-vacant parcel once occupied by the 16-screen Crown Theatre. That building was demolished two years ago.

GS4, an international security firm, moved its 230 employees into a new $13 million, four-story building on the same block last year. The company, formerly known as Wackenhut, moved from Palm Beach Gardens.

The council adopted the new plan after staff review. The council could have required that the developers submit a new plan showing the reduced size. That would have set back the start of construction.

But the council agreed with the town's planning staff that the change was not significant enough for council approval to be required. Under town regulations passed in 2008, only when a "super condition" is changed for a project is council approval required for a change in a development.

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