Oct. 05, 2012--Downtown's newest hotel is scheduled to open in June after the Jarosz Family Limited Partnership of Colorado Springs completed a $2.4 million purchase Friday of a former El Paso County office building that the group plans to renovate.

The 40-year-old, 64,640-square-foot building at 105 N. Spruce St., which had housed the county's Department of Human Services, will be transformed into an 80-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hotel, said managing partner Ted Jarosz.

"It's official. I just got the keys," he said after the purchase was completed.

The property already has been fenced and interior demolition work will begin next week, Jarosz said. Including the purchase price, the project's cost will be $8 million, he said.

The hotel was envisioned for 100 rooms, but the building's square footprint -- typical hotels are rectangular -- allowed only space for 80 rooms, which also meant the building couldn't accommodate a full-service Holiday Inn, Jarosz said.

Nevertheless, the hotel's 80 rooms will be oversized and will include 16 suites, he said. Amenities will include an indoor pool, a fitness center, free breakfast and meeting space.

The family also owns the 98-room Clarion Hotel and the 50-room Quality Suites, adjacent downtown properties at 314 W. Bijou St. that have separate front desks, but are connected via a hallway and share a pool and a breakfast area.

The addition of the Holiday Inn Express continues the partnership's support for downtown, Jarosz said.

"In the future, as the economy improves, I think the downtown area will improve as well," he said.

The Holiday Inn Express will become the latest addition to downtown lodging. In May, the Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel, opened at 8 S. Nevada Ave. in the old Mining Exchange Building.

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