Midwest Hotel Construction: Big projects are few and far between

...36-story building that was originally built in two phases—1895 and 1925. The project will leave office space in some of the middle floors. No construction timeline has been set.

Photo: WIT

One recently completed hotel that’s made an impact is Chicago’s innovative 27-story theWit. Built on a tight 9,500-sq-ft lot in the heart of downtown, the $62-million project created 250,000 sq ft of hotel space and entertainment, including 298 guest rooms, three restaurants, and digital theater.

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In Milwaukee, Aimbridge Hospitality in December opened a contemporary new boutique hotel, the Aloft Milwaukee Downtown hotel near the riverwalk. The company claims the 160-room property is the first major new hotel development in the market since 2001. Aloft features loft-like rooms and multiple communal areas designed to encourage social interaction between guests.

In much of the Midwest, though, the hotel story involves a lot of watching and waiting. Numerous projects across the region have been planned and even announced, but are mired in financing delays or have been canceled outright. Even the Edition project in Chicago is on its second incarnation—the first, involving construction of a new high-rise, fell through about a year ago.

Industry watchers are hoping to see an uptick of hotel construction activity in the St. Louis area soon. The site of a failed downtown mall is to be rehabbed into a parking structure, while an adjacent department store building is slated to be transformed into apartments and an Embassy Suites hotel. Construction at the hotel site is to begin this year.

And in the St. Louis County seat of Clayton, there are plans to begin construction of a 245-room, 15-story Westin Hotel this summer. The $100-million project was delayed last spring, and once it gets under way it’s expected to take about a year to complete.

Those in both the hotel and construction industries are no doubt pegging their hopes on the latest forecast from Smith Travel Research. The firm expects to see rebounds in the hotel industry’s three most important metrics—occupancy, rates and revenues—in 2011, following continued declines this year. By next year, the current meager construction pipeline should be running thin, giving hope that at some point down the road, many of today’s stalled projects can emerge again from the mothballs.