A 130-room hotel proposed as part of a $739 million riverfront development is designed to absorb an increase in overnight stays as two major sports and entertainment venues come online, though local hospitality officials are still determining what kind of hotel the market could support.
The hotel would be included in one of three new towers proposed at the Fulton & Market development that was made public on Friday.
An entity tied to the DeVos and Van Andel families, Fulmar Property Holdings LLC, this week will present the plan to the city for a 6.9-acre vacant riverfront site at and around the former Charley’s Crab restaurant at 63 Market Ave. SW. The development would include three high-rise towers containing office, residential and, potentially, an “upscale” 130-room hotel with condos above it.
The proposed site is just north of the future Acrisure Amphitheater and west of Van Andel Arena.
A brand affiliation and management company have not been selected for the hotel, though project leaders have said they expect the facility will be an “upscale” offering.
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Local tourism and hospitality leaders say they believe a high-end hotel could complement the landscape, but more due diligence is needed.
Rick Winn is president and CEO of AHC Hospitality, the DeVos- and Van Andel-owned hospitality company that manages five of downtown’s 13 hotels. Winn has been engaged as an industry expert to help with market research about the potential hotel.
“It is very early in the planning process,” said Winn, who also chairs the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority and Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority boards. “At this time, we are aiming for a higher end hotel to complement the others that are already downtown. However, we’re doing the due diligence and research required to determine what the market can bear.”
According to Smith Travel Research figures provided by Experience Grand Rapids, average downtown hotel occupancy last year was 61.4%, down from 65.2% in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Janet Korn, senior vice president of Experience Grand Rapids, said those numbers reflect both a dip in travel during the pandemic as well as additional rooms coming online when hotels like the 147-room Residence Inn by Marriott, 155-room Canopy by Hilton and five-room The Finnley Hotel opened in 2020 and 2021.
Korn believes if the Fulton & Market hotel was a “boutique” product, it could be “a really unique overnight experience that will be a nice addition to the landscape.”
“Depending on the brand and the experience … it could really attract an audience or guests that aren’t currently looking at Grand Rapids for that boutique hotel experience,” Korn said.
Winn said a new hotel would mainly be designed to absorb an increase in overnight stays downtown after the Acrisure Amphitheater and planned soccer stadium come online, bringing a host of new evening events.
“The amphitheater and the soccer stadium and the (Van Andel Arena) are what will generate hotel rooms for downtown,” Winn said. “That (Fulton & Market) property, because it’s, in essence, sandwiched between the arena, the amphitheater and the soccer stadium, it could become an entertainment district of sorts, or a destination spot for people … and it all could come together as a nice package for people to visit.”
The project team plans to seek about $543.5 million in state Transformational Brownfield Plan incentives, which would require approval from the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, city commission and Michigan Strategic Fund board, which oversees the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
“This is what I would refer to as a ‘skyline-defining development,’” said Brad Thomas, president and CEO of Progressive Companies, who helped create the Fulton & Market concept design. “(It’s) conversion of some windblown, dusty parking lots to what could be a very vibrant sports and entertainment development.”
While the construction timeline of the Fulton & Market project depends on how long approvals take, developers now say construction on the hotel tower could begin in spring 2026 and conclude by summer 2029.
Only time and due diligence will tell whether adding another upscale hotel would compete with existing high-end properties in AHC’s existing portfolio like the JW Marriott and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Winn said.
“It depends on what time frame you’re speaking of,” he said. “I think long term, yes, of course (it may compete). Mid-range, it may, but I think we need additional study for the short term to make sure that it can be absorbed into the market. That’s all just study that normally occurs before you put a shovel on the ground.”
Korn said excluding a hotel from the Fulton & Market development — and building office space and residential units alone — would not be as inviting for tourists. A hotel “offers a visitor an opportunity to be in that neighborhood … to be in what might be a new heart of the downtown,” she said.
The project team hopes to secure a recommendation of approval from the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Oct. 16 and city commission approval on Nov. 19 in time for the Michigan Strategic Fund board to consider the project at its February meeting.
If all proceeds as planned, they hope to start construction on the project in fall 2025, starting with the office tower.
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