Builder change delays Germantown hotels
Local contractor chosen to work TraVure project
Developers have chosen a local contractor to continue building hotels at TraVure, a multipurpose development in Germantown’s western gateway.
Desai Hotel Group, the developer for the dual-branded Home2 Suites and Hilton Garden Inn, switched from Omni Construction based in Cleveland to Montgomery Martin Contractors.
The hotels are now scheduled to open by mid-2019, and Montgomery Martin, founder and CEO of the contracting company, hopes to have construction crews on site by Sept. 15.
“There were issues with Omni internally unrelated to the project,” said Sunny Desai, Desai Hotel president and CEO.
Omni officials could not be reached for comment.
Desai Hotel Group is based in Jackson, Mississippi. Among its properties is a Hampton Inn in Her-
nando.
Desai said he wanted to work with Montgomery Martin Contractors for some time. His company reached out to the local contractors at the beginning of the project, but the company was busy with other projects. Desai said he is excited to collaborate with the Memphis business.
“Sunny and I have talked a lot over the last year,” Martin said. “He liked our philosophy of doing business.”
Montgomery Martin Contractors will take over building the hotels that are mid-construction on the south side of the property near the railroad tracks and Poplar Pike.
“Sunny needed help when (Omni) pulled out,” Martin said.
Martin said coming in mid-project is not hard compared to a lot of the projects the company does Downtown, adding it has previously worked in mixed-use developments.
Martin said the last six weeks have been spent in “pre-construction” and “determining the status of everything.”
“We’ve been out there already,” he said. “We secured the site just to keep it in good condition and protect it.”
The hotels, which will have 220 rooms, are the third part of a four-phase plan. Earlier phases included an office building and traffic signal at Poplar Avenue and TraVure Drive.
Desai said changing builders cost the project about a month. Martin hopes the hotels will open in the middle of next year.
“Being sensitive to the Germantown community is important to us, to Sunny Desai and Ray Gill,” Martin said.
Gill, Gill Properties founder, said he is actively talking to several potential tenants for the office building that sits on the north side of the property.
Mid-America Apartments is the only tenant currently at the property. The company moved its headquarters there in mid-April, and Martin wants to be mindful of its presence during construction.
First Bank is set to move into a portion of the first floor next month, and Gill is in talks with another large bank. He said the 30,000-square-foot second floor is open for a larger business to occupy.
The last phase of the development will be a two-story building that has retail on the bottom and offices on top.