Sept. 07–A little more than four months after opening the TownePlace Suites by Marriott, David Chandler is seeking approval to develop another Marriott hotel property.
He plans to build a Fairfield Inn & Suites just across the street in his Chandler Park development off Cave Mill Road. It has been six months since a Bowling Green hotel has had the Fairfield flag.
“There have been many developers across the country that wanted the brand in this market, and Marriott was kind enough to wait on us to get TownePlace open and running,” Chandler said. “It was a strong brand and was in Bowling Green for a long time. It would be like if you lost a McDonald’s, you would want to build another as soon as possible. So it was a timing issue for the company to go ahead and get this done.”
Jeff Anderson is president of Anderson Hospitality, which has the management contract for both properties and the Hilton Garden Inn, which Chandler also owns.
TownePlace “opened really strong, but we are still in a ramp-up period,” Anderson said. “We have some corporate extended-stay accounts and are working on building that base.”
Fairfield won’t be geared for long-term stays, although it will have some of the same amenities. There will be an indoor pool, complimentary breakfast, meeting rooms and an exercise room. Chandler thinks the close proximity of the two facilities will be beneficial to both rather than create competition.
“This is Marriott’s new prototype design,” Chandler said.
Their design package calls for 108 rooms, eight of which are suites. The facade features multiple building materials, and there will be a water feature outside the 54,414-square-foot, four-story building.
On this particular piece of property, closest to Cave Mill Road, there is space for another business. “At some point we’d like to see a little food business there, but we will be selective and take our time,” Chandler said.
As for construction of the hotel, Chandler wants to start as quickly as is feasible, likely around Nov. 1.
Detailed development plans must first be approved at the Sept. 19 meeting of the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County.
Nashville’s B.L. Bennett & Associates, which constructed TownePlace, also will work on this project, which is expected to take about a year and cost a total of $12.5 million. TownePlace, which is seven rooms smaller, cost $11.5 million to construct and equip, Chandler said.
Anderson expects that 35 to 40 people will be hired to operate the hotel property.
Vicki Fitch, executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the Fairfield Inn is a quality brand to have in its visitor offerings.
Those offerings now stand at 2,880 total lodging rooms in 44 facilities, including hotels, motels, inns, bed-and-breakfast, cabins and cottages.
— See a rendering of the prototype hotel at bgdailynews.com.
— Robyn L. Minor covers business, environment, transportation and other issues. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/bowserminor or visit bgdailynews.com.
