Courtyard by Marriott planned near Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers

The apartment market isn’t the only commercial construction niche booming in Northwest Arkansas. Hotel developers are bullish on the region, too, attempting to capitalize on the area’s growing popularity as a tourist destination.

Three projects are progressing in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Springdale that will add a combined 320 rooms to the inventory. A fourth hotel with 121 rooms has just recently started its trek through the development pipeline in Rogers.

Springdale-based hotel developer Krushiker Hospitality Group (KHG) is planning to build a 78,100-square-foot hotel just north of Pinnacle Hills Promenade.

According to large-scale development plans submitted to the city of Rogers for review, the five-story project is called Creekside Courtyard by Marriott.

The 2.5-acre site is in Phase III of the Creekside commercial development on West Green Acres Road. KHG has the land under contract to be acquired from Pinnacle New Hope LLC, an affiliate of Sage Partners of Rogers. Jana McCarty, a KHG spokesperson, said the land sale will go through once the hotel is approved by city planners. Pending approval, construction is expected to begin before the end of the year.

McCarty said the hotel was initially planned a decade ago, but was delayed until the economy rebounded from the downturn.

“The addition of this hotel at Pinnacle Hills Promenade will further solidify its reputation as a premier shopping, dining and entertainment destination,” KHG said in a statement. The hotel is expected to create 50 full-time and part-time jobs.

KHG is also building a 119-room, extended-stay hotel across from the Northwest Arkansas Convention Center on South 48^th Street in Springdale. Home2 Suites By Hilton is expected to open in spring 2018.

The five-story hotel is 80,000 square feet. It’s geared to business travelers and professionals and families, who might need to stay for an extended period of time, McCarty said. With the proximity to Arkansas Children’s Northwest, it could be a home away from home for guests with family at the hospital.

Home2 Suites by Hilton will be the 13th hotel managed by KHG in Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro, McCarty said.

The other two hotel projects in the region are also being led by the same developer — Shash Goyal, the majority owner and CEO of Little Rock firm I Square Management.

Construction is nearing completion of the four-story, 107-room Element Hotel by Westin near the southbound Interstate 49 exit at South Walton Boulevard in Bentonville, behind Cracker Barrel. Goyal said the hotel is scheduled to be completed before the end of October.

I Square also broke ground last December on a four-story, 94-room hotel on Van Asche Drive in Fayetteville called Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott.

According to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of Largest Hotels, there are 26 hotels in Benton and Washington counties with at least 100 rooms. They combine for 3,432 units, or an average of 132 units per hotel.

Editor’s Note: Northwest Arkansas Business Journal assistant editor Jeff Della Rosa contributed to this story.