East Texas Business

By GREG JUNEK
Business Editor

A Hilton brand hotel will join a previously announced Courtyard by Marriott on South Broadway Avenue.

The Homewood Suites by Hilton will be a four-story, 92-room lodging facility designed for extended stays, Mital Patel, vice president-development for Image Hospitality, said.

The campus will include the four-story, 119-room Courtyard by Marriott to the north, which Image Hospitality is also developing, but the two hotels will not be twins, Patel said.

“It’s two different brands; one’s a Marriott and one’s a Hilton, so each will have a different look,” he said.

“The Courtyard has a more contemporary design, … whereas the Homewood is much more traditional,” said Robert DeShay, real estate director for Image Hospitality.

He said Hilton is giving some leeway on the Homewood Suites design, but the Homewood flag has been very traditional.

The Courtyard by Marriott will feature a more contemporary design inside and outside, DeShay said.

Although each building will have a different character, the landscaping across the campus will be the same.

Patel said each suite will have a full kitchen. Suites will range in size to handle two to four people. One-and two-bedroom suites and studio suites will be available.

“The hotel will have an exercise facility,” he said. “It will have a swimming pool with an outdoor patio deck.”

The decks will have grills to allow for outdoor cooking.

“Now in the industry, you’re seeing more of this outdoor living area, an outdoor kitchen area,” Patel said.

The Homewood Suites will also have a basketball court and gazebo.

Hilton describes the hotel as “a second home when traveling for business or pleasure,” and Patel said it is similar to Residence Inn by Marriott.

He did not have information on the proposed building’s square footage, but said that it would probably represent an investment of nearly $10 million to $11 million.

“Combined (Courtyard and Homewood Suites), we’re probably looking at probably $25 million,” Patel said.

Construction will begin on the Courtyard by Marriott first, within the next 60 days, he said, but no anticipated construction start date for Homewood Suites has been set. Each hotel will take about 12 months to complete.

Patel said he believes the Tyler market can support both hotels, along with some others that have recently opened or have announced construction.

“There are quite a few properties, but I think the Tyler market can sustain the new growth,” he said. “We have done feasibility studies.”

The Homewood Suites will serve the South Broadway area as the Residence Inn serves the medical center area, Patel said.

“We’re looking at South Broadway where all the new growth is coming, over by Cumberland Park and the new loop — that’s our market,” he said.

DeShay said Image Hospitality met with nearby homeowners and incorporated a couple of their suggestions into the plans. They include leaving a 60-foot buffer zone of trees between the hotels and the property lines.

“We’re taking out some of the trash growth in terms of underbrush,” he said, adding some of the undesirable trees will be removed and replaced with hardwoods.

He said the developer also agreed to construct an 8-foot privacy fence between homeowners and the development and agreed that trash pickup not be done during a time that would interrupt privacy and to install lighting to illuminate its parking lot only.

DeShay praised city staff in the way they worked with the developer.

“I think Tyler is one of the most helpful municipal governments that we’ve worked with,” he said. “There are some municipalities that are very challenging to work with.”

Patel also said Image Hospitality, which built the former Wingate Inn on the city’s southeast side in 2000, will build a 50-room, all-suite addition to that hotel. Construction is anticipated to start by the end of the year, and it will boost the hotel’s room number to 136.

He said his company made a decision to re-flag the property under the Holiday Inn brand, and it changed to a Holiday Inn Express in February.

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