Hotels Around the State Get Bigger, Spruce Up

(Click here to see the list of the state’s largest hotels.)

Hotels in central Arkansas are spiffing up for the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library in 2004 and the influx of guests that are expected.

The Little Rock Hilton at University Avenue and Interstate 630 has been closed since January for a $19 million renovation. The project is expected to be complete in early 2004.

Little Rock voters approved the capital improvement revenue bonds to finance the renovation needed by The Peabody Hotel Group, which is developing the 24-year-old property. The group expects this to be a catalyst for midtown Little Rock revitalization.

After work is complete, the 278-room hotel also will have 14,000-SF of meeting space and a full-service restaurant. It also will have a refurbished lobby and courtyard and other exterior improvements.

That hotel, along with a $30 million, 250-room Marriott Hotel industry mogul John Q. Hammons is building in Rogers, will debut in 2004 among the Top 12 largest hotels in the state (see chart, p. 23). The Rogers facility will also include a 100,000-SF convention center.

Another hotel property that has temporarily closed for renovation (and therefore dropped off the list of largest hotels) is Ramada Inn in Fort Smith. The 144-room hotel closed in late June.

Also recently renovated is the former Riverfront Hilton in North Little Rock, which was renamed Wyndham Riverfront-Little Rock in December. The hotel is owned by Frank Fletcher’s F.F. Hotels Inc., which signed a 10-year franchise agreement with Wyndham International Inc. of Dallas.

The hotel facade and room furnishings were updated per Wyndham style, after being renovated in 2001.

Across the river, the Masters Inn Hotel at 707 Interstate 30 in Little Rock, was sold to Whitt Properties Inc. of Fort Smith in December and is currently undergoing renovation. Whitt Properties shelled out $7 million to acquire and renovate the 176-room hotel. Renamed Comfort Inn, the hotel should reopen late summer or early fall.

The Masters Inn facelift began just months after the Best Western Inn Towne (now named the Holiday Inn Presidential Conference Center in Little Rock) reopened after its own $6 million renovation. Carpenter and Co. of Ellisville, Mo., a commercial real estate firm, bought the hotel, and will manage the project with Intercontinental Hotels Group.

The Legacy Hotel at 625 W. Capitol Ave. in Little Rock will be part of the Cambridge Suites chain after its $2 million renovation, which began in late 2002. Owner Amin Amarshi will add a restaurant, lounge and three meeting rooms to beef up the hotel’s attraction. And to create large guest rooms, Amarshi has reduced the number of guest units from 116 to 97.

The former City Center Plaza Hotel at 617 S. Broadway in Little Rock reopened in October under the name Radisson City Center Plaza Hotel. The 262-room hotel was closed during its 14-month renovation, which improved guest rooms, meeting space and technological components.

Transactions

Other existing hotels have changed hands recently.

SJS Management of Bryant, led by Jim Shamburger, purchased the Holiday Inn Express in Bryant for an undisclosed amount in June. The 64-room hotel was previously owned by Shamburger’s parents, J.D. and Margaret Shamburger, and their partners, Bill and Alberta Shinn of Hot Springs.

Tom Bhakta and Terry Dill of T.H. Hospitality LLC are building a $7.43 million Fairfield Inn & Suites in Springdale. The 57,000-SF facility will have 74 units and is scheduled to be complete late this year.

Bhakta and Dill also are constructing a 41,000-SF Comfort Suites with 69 units neighboring the Fairfield Inn that is expected to be finished later this year as well.

Jaypaksar Inc., led by Prakkh Mehta, bought La Quinta Inn at 2410 W. 65th St. from LQM Operating Partners Ltd. of Irving, Texas, in March 2002. The 111-room motel in southwest Little Rock cost $2.35 million.

Jaypaksar then sold the 2.5-acre development for $3.4 million to Bsayona Inc., led by Jitendrakunar Patel, and now flies under the Ramada Inn Ltd. banner.

Probably the largest reconstruction project in northwest Arkansas belongs to Gary Brandon of Springdale, whose Marriott Residence Inn at Rogers was nearing completion when it was destroyed by fire in February. The 65,513-SF building was leveled in an hour.

Brandon and his partners, Craig Smith of Rogers and Dewey Weaver Jr. of Monroe, La., are rebuilding the 88-unit hotel on the same site. The new structure will be complete sometime in 2004.

Shamburger, who’s on the state Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission, said the sluggish economy has caused hotel construction industry to stall somewhat.

“As far as new hotels go, the growth has slowed because the economy has slowed,” Shamburger said. “Although the interest rates are still low … we’re not seeing a whole lot of new development right now.”

Despite the sluggish economy, developers armed with previous plans to build new hotels are continuing to do so, said Shamburger, who also owns the Governors Inn in Little Rock and Super 8 Motel in Hot Springs.

Mainly because Arkansas remains a destination within itself, the state wasn’t as harshly affected by terrorism fears and the frustrated economy.

“Arkansas overall is a drive-to destination so it kind of works to our advantage,” Shamburger said.