Marriott work to resume

Permits have been issued, and Duke Hospitality says soil work will be the initial focus.

The latest version of plans for the Courtyard by Marriott on West Third Street in Rome have been approved by the Rome- Floyd Building Inspection office, and a check for the construction permits has been delivered to the city.

Representatives from Duke Hospitality and Hogan Construction Group are expected to resume work on the long anticipated hotel Monday, weather permitting.

The Rome Redevelopment Committee has scheduled a called meeting for Monday afternoon at 4 p. m. to get an update on the hotel project. The city had previously stipulated that some sort of tangible work at the site had to resume by Monday for Duke Hospitality to be eligible for Tax Allocation District financing.

Duke Hospitality President Wesley Dowdy said Friday the first thing Hogan personnel likely will do Monday is inspect the pilings that were driven to help support the hotel 18 months ago. “We will begin the work to repair the sinkhole that is on the property,” Dowdy said.

Dowdy said Duke has not finalized its construction loan with Citizens First/ Synovus Bank yet for the 124-unit hotel.

Dowdy said the latest budget for the project is a little more than $14.6 million.

The budget for the project has grown from $12.6 million in June of 2014. Much of that increase has to do with the support structure for the parking deck at ground level with West Third Street. The first floor of the hotel would be roughly level with the top of the Oostanaula River levee.

“We have provided the city with a 60-day timeline of construction milestones that will happen,” Dowdy said. The timeline indicates that work on the sinkhole should be completed by February 26, after which the contractor will be cleaning and installing some additional pilings.

Barring any more problems, he said construction would take 10-12 months. “I think we should be conservative and say no longer than 12 months,” Dowdy said. “We’re going to push internally for 10 months.”

David Doss, whose Samson Development team controls a small outparcel to the south of the hotel property, said once construction of the Marriott becomes clearly evident, that he will seriously revisit his plans.

“The first thing we want to do is get that hotel out of the ground and make some believers out of everybody that the hotel project really is here,” Doss said. “My original plan was for

Sarah Lane /

Rome News-Tribune

Riyah Manley attempts a spare at Classic Lanes Bowling.

some retail with a restaurant end-cap and four loft apartments. That’s still our design however thee have been some discussions, very preliminary in nature, about doing a freestanding restaurant and it could take that form.”

Doss also said that once the hotel starts going up he would refocus attention on plans for a condominium building on two acres on the north side of the hotel. His option on that property

Doug Walker /

Rome News-Tribune

A small sinkhole near the center of the footprint for the proposed Courtyard by Marriott on West Third Street will be the first focus of attention when work resumes on the site Monday.

expired in December.

“It’s been a long time coming, long overdue,” Rome City Manager Sammy Rich said about the hotel project. “As we think about the expansion of Broad Street’s success and how it’s going to looking growing across the river, to me that’s exciting. How is it going to change downtown, how is it going to change business at The Forum? I think it’s got longlasting ramifications.”