Construction on downtown hotel to begin, downtown parking lot will close

After years of planning, construction on Maryville’s new downtown hotel is finally growing near. According to a release from city staff, the project should last 18-24 months and will disrupt downtown parking options until its completion.

Contractors will begin staging equipment and addressing underground utilities at the site starting the week of July 29. The city encouraged drivers to use the Harper Street garage as a “convenient parking option” since the new hotel — a 98-key Holiday Inn establishment — will occupy the Sam Houston parking lot beside Broadway Towers.

“The entrance to the upper level of the Broadway Towers parking garage will remain open for a brief period until construction prohibits entry,” city staff wrote in the release. “Residents will be notified prior to this closure.”

Previous reporting from The Daily Times relates how city staff have arranged an alternative parking solution for downtown residents. The hotel broke ground in March.

Drawings

As pictured in designs shown to city leadership , the finished hotel will boast its own, 119-space parking garage underneath, with access from the outside and neighboring Broadway Towers. The building will boast a rooftop bar and restaurant with stays hovering around $150 per night, according to developer Devi Capital.

Concept drawings of what the hotel could look like show a red brick building with white accents, blending the styles of Broadway Towers with the colors of nearby McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home. A main entrance at the front of the building sports a curved driveway, although Maryville officials have voiced a desire to avoid making the design “car-centric.”

Maryville has been seeking a downtown hotel for years, with plans at alternative locations falling through before Devi Capital came on the scene. The city will still own the land under the current agreement, with the hotel owner renting the top floor of the parking garage and the air rights for the location for $1 annually. The contract will expire after 99 years.

Project

Maryville is investing $2.5 million to incentivize the project, although a 2023 estimate puts the total construction cost around $16 million.

“Downtown businesses will see a boost in sales, and the hotel will generate sales, property and hotel tax revenues that will stay in the community,” staff wrote in the release.

Under the current lease, parking will be split between the city and hotel patrons, with a cooperative agreement allowing some leeway for sharing when needed. A total of 60 spaces should go to the hotel, with 59 being devoted to public parking, according to previous coverage from The Daily Times.

Maryville Housing Authority staff have told The Daily Times about 40 Broadway Towers tenants park in the current Sam Houston lot.