Westin Hotel/Condos & Project Forty Fifth

[RemusCal]

In addition, this development will feature additional retail/restaurants along with 2 10-12 story office towers. This will be announced on Tuesday during the groundbreaking ceremony. I am so excited about this development. It will definitely begin to make Rogers very cosmopolitan. And our area is heading up to be a major market now, especially with a Renaissance and Westin hotel in the area. Little Rock doesn't have either. I don't know where the closest Westin is around here. This is incredible. Way to go Barber!

[razorbackfan]

In addition, this development will feature additional retail/restaurants along with 2 10-12 story office towers. This will be announced on Tuesday during the groundbreaking ceremony. I am so excited about this development. It will definitely begin to make Rogers very cosmopolitan. And our area is heading up to be a major market now, especially with a Renaissance and Westin hotel in the area. Little Rock doesn't have either. I don't know where the closest Westin is around here. This is incredible. Way to go Barber!

Your saying the Westin breaks ground on Tuesday?? I thought it hasn't even been approved by the city of Rogers. I will say this, I like the way the City of Rogers approaches growth compared to Fayetteville. Rogers is the type of place where "the american dream" can reallyl happen due to less govenment restrictions.

[Hoggy Bear]

I heard that there are a total of 4 hotels going in around the Pinnacle/Mercy Med/Horsebarn Rd. area

[razorbackfan]

I heard that there are a total of 4 hotels going in around the Pinnacle/Mercy Med/Horsebarn Rd. area

Well we know of the Westin, and we know of the Holliday Inn, and the expansio of the Embassay Suites...does anyone know of another one or two hotels that are coming in? One thing I really like about all the hotels is that there is a better chance for NWA to get larger events, such as a first and second round of the NCAA tournament, or other events that require so many nice hotels.

[mcheiss]

Well we know of the Westin, and we know of the Holliday Inn, and the expansio of the Embassay Suites...does anyone know of another one or two hotels that are coming in? One thing I really like about all the hotels is that there is a better chance for NWA to get larger events, such as a first and second round of the NCAA tournament, or other events that require so many nice hotels.

Staybridge is the fourth. They are building right next to the Holiday Inn.

I agree with razorbackfan, the project hasn't gone before the Planning Commission, so technically it really can't break ground.

This project will also have a very large waterfeature from what I'm being told.

[Mith242]

Overall the most of the hotel news is in Benton County. Fayetteville will be getting the Renaissance and of course Divinity the boutique hotel.

[razorbackfan]

Staybridge is the fourth. They are building right next to the Holiday Inn.

I agree with razorbackfan, the project hasn't gone before the Planning Commission, so technically it really can't break ground.

This project will also have a very large waterfeature from what I'm being told.

How many floors will the staybridge have?

[mcheiss]

How many floors will the staybridge have?

Four Floors I believe.

The Holiday Inn should have around 6-7.

[mcheiss]

Some more exciting hotel news in Rogers.

The Amerisuites in Rogers has been sold to Hyatt, which is going to reopen the hotel as the Hyatt Place Hotel.

[RemusCal]

I did a search for Hyatt Place Hotels and this is what an article said about this brand. Apparently it is a new brand of hotels, so NWA will be one of the first areas of the country to get one of these...

This Saturday, the first Hyatt Place hotel, Global Hyatt Corporation's new hotel brand aimed at business travelers and families, is scheduled to open in Lombard, Ill., about 20 miles outside Chicago.

Design and technology will play an important role in the chain, a remake of the AmeriSuites brand acquired by Hyatt early last year. Guests can check in at a kiosk in the lobby that will give them their room key. Soups, sandwiches and snacks are available from a takeout area, above, where guests punch in their order on a computer screen and swipe their keycard to pay. Rooms feature 42-inch plasma televisions, Wi-Fi and are about 350 to 395 square feet; 888-492-8847. A second Hyatt Place is scheduled to open in Atlanta by the end of the month.

[mcheiss]

^

Another one is suppose to open in Little Rock.

[masons_dad1]

Overall the most of the hotel news is in Benton County. Fayetteville will be getting the Renaissance and of course Divinity the boutique hotel.

It's easy for the news to concentrate on one area at a time. There's so much going on in each city that there's no way anyone can cover it all. I think CNN should create a Special Reports section for Northwest Arkansas on their website to cover it all.

[Aporkalypse]

Impressive. Crazy impressive.

[bobhazor]

I told everybody about this nearly a month ago, but nobody believed me.

Don't doubt bob.

[KJW]

I told everybody about this nearly a month ago, but nobody believed me.

Don't doubt bob.

Did anyone see in the NW Demo-zette yesterday in their "Business Matters" tabloid the cover story was on the Barber group?

They said that there would be an announcement of a "luxury hotel" tomorrow.

Interesting story on their corporate culture. (Everyone has a blackberry so they can work any where, any time. No time clock in the office. Lots of parties and socializing.)

[cowbreath]

Did anyone see in the NW Demo-zette yesterday in their "Business Matters" tabloid the cover story was on the Barber group?

They said that there would be an announcement of a "luxury hotel" tomorrow.

Interesting story on their corporate culture. (Everyone has a blackberry so they can work any where, any time. No time clock in the office. Lots of parties and socializing.)

I've appreciated hearing things on this UP forum before they are made public. Maybe a paper should syndicate selective forum entries as a weekend column spot.

[mcheiss]

I told everybody about this nearly a month ago, but nobody believed me.

Don't doubt bob.

I found out about it actually 2 months ago when I e-mailed Brandon Barber. He told me that the project would be a very large multi-story building but he couldn't release any more details. I just didn't know the hotel brand.

[jcaruth]

I found out about it actually 2 months ago when I e-mailed Brandon Barber. He told me that the project would be a very large multi-story building but he couldn't release any more details. I just didn't know the hotel brand.

Well I found out about three months ago while I was in a meeting with Brandon and Seth.

[nj829]

Lets just hope Barber hasn't bitten off more than they can chew...they've got a LOT of financing to be doing with all these projects. Does anyone have any idea on if this is a successful company in terms of profitability, or just great at press releases and drawings? We are talking about hundred of millions of dollars just by barber alone..

[cowbreath]

Well I found out about three months ago while I was in a meeting with Brandon and Seth.

Very impressive, jcaruth and mcheiss! I'm glad we have people who are on the inside or getting on the inside. It's like knowing the guy who knows what the error messages means when I had Windows 98 crashing on me.

[Aporkalypse]

I misunderstood and thought this was all going to be a hotel at first and was kind of worried about it being way too large. If most of this is going to be condos and only 330 hotels rooms will be there it seems pretty reasonable. I'm not really worried about the high cost of the condos (AB News said $350-400 per SF when most high-end NWA real estate is going for $125 per). There is little to compete with it in Benton Co in terms of condos though there are some nice ones on Dickson. That said, if this and that project on Beaver Lake both happen I wouldn't be lining to build more luxury condos yet after this thing's built.

[Mith242]

I found out about it actually 2 months ago when I e-mailed Brandon Barber. He told me that the project would be a very large multi-story building but he couldn't release any more details. I just didn't know the hotel brand.

Yeah the Barber group have been very open to me as well when I have e-mailed them questions.

[Aporkalypse]

Lets just hope Barber hasn't bitten off more than they can chew...they've got a LOT of financing to be doing with all these projects. Does anyone have any idea on if this is a successful company in terms of profitability, or just great at press releases and drawings? We are talking about hundred of millions of dollars just by barber alone..

Since this is mostly a condo project it is possible it could be financed to large degree by preconstruction condo sales. Most people really serious about getting into one of these would want to buy them early and get them at a considerable discount. Of course, a lot of condo projects get scrapped when preconstruction sales lag which indicates a lack of demand.

It's interesting that you're seeing so much interest in condo development in Northwest and Central AR when most of the country is seeing most projects going to the condo graveyard right now. There's a whole virtual city of scrapped projects in South Florida.

[Mith242]

Since this is mostly a condo project it is possible it could be financed to large degree by preconstruction condo sales. Most people really serious about getting into one of these would want to buy them early and get them at a considerable discount. Of course, a lot of condo projects get scrapped when preconstruction sales lag which indicates a lack of demand.

It's interesting that you're seeing so much interest in condo development in Northwest and Central AR when most of the country is seeing most projects going to the condo graveyard right now. There's a whole virtual city of scrapped projects in South Florida.

I don't know, I think there's quite a few areas in the country that are or were recently in a condo craze themselves. I'm hoping it's just not a fad. I would really like to see this trend continue and provide options to everyone living in the suburbs.

[Aporkalypse]

I don't know, I think there's quite a few areas in the country that are or were recently in a condo craze themselves. I'm hoping it's just not a fad. I would really like to see this trend continue and provide options to everyone living in the suburbs.

The places that are doing well with condos right now are the same ones that seem to be braving the housing market in general. Fortunately Arkansas along with Texas, Louisiana, and most of the mid-South is in this boat. In fact, Dallas's uptown condo craze is really a pretty new thing.

Still, high-rise condos cater to a specific market - mostly middle-aged singles or divorcees without kids at home or older empty-nest couples. Most young professionals are priced out at this level.

I like the trend as well and I hope it continues. It's funny that downtowns across the country transitioned from retail centers to office towers and now are becoming filled with residential projects. Downtown Dallas only had 1000 residents before the latest slew of projects. It would be nice to see downtowns across the country become filled with dense high-rise residential and walkable communities. Of course, this building is a little different but you get what I'm saying.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't go multiuse with this project and include several floors of office space.