If approved by the City Council, a new 14-story Marriott hotel tower could soon take shape in Peoria, Ill., where it would connect to the existing Hotel Pere Marquette in order to create what developers are calling a "true headquarters hotel" adjacent to the newly expanded Peoria Civic Center, reports local newspaper the Peoria Journal Star.
The hotel, proposed by developer EM Properties earlier this month, would cost $102 million to build and would feature a total of 489 rooms, as well as additional meeting, convention and banquet space. Opening as early as 2012, it would include a new 200-room Marriott tower that would connect to the existing Hotel Pere Marquette—which currently has 287 rooms and 40 suites—in order to make one large property connecting to the civic center via an enclosed glass walkway.
"Peoria has been trying to get a premier product like this for a long time," Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis told the Journal Star. "I think our patience has paid off. This is a quality product with an ultra-quality flag in a great location."
In addition to the new Marriott tower, the existing Hotel Pere Marquette, which would retain its name in some form, would receive $25 million in renovations, according to EM Properties CEO Gary Matthews, who plans to acquire the hotel from its current owner, Kansas City, Kan.-based Innco Hospitality.
In spite of the current economic recession, Matthews says that the time is right for a new hotel in Peoria, where the Peoria Civic Center recently completed a $55 million expansion that's given the facility over 110,000 square feet of exhibit space, 27,000 square feet of meeting space and 18,000 square feet of pre-function space.
"This is the right time and the opportunity, because of the Civic Center expansion and its need for a headquarters hotel, to do something for the community," he told the Journal Star. "I think downtown Peoria deserves this project. The citizens have convinced me the city can support it and other projects."