The finishing touches are underway on Billy and John McQueary’s $13 million boutique hotel, expected to open in July. A new vertical sign facing Walnut Street is installed, lobby tile is freshly placed, and 90 light fixtures from Springfield Hot Glass are soon to hang.
By mid-July, all construction is expected to be complete at the $13 million Hotel Vandivort, 313 E. Walnut St., according to Billy and John McQueary, owners and developers of the Queen City’s first boutique hotel property through MBH LLC.
The McQuearys – of the McQueary Drug Co. family – in September 2012 closed on the purchase of the five-story Vandivort office building that had been listed by downtown property owner Scott Tillman for $1.5 million. A year later, construction was underway by general contractor Larry Snyder & Co. Vandivort-branded soaps and lotions await first guests. Once a masonic temple, the 109-year-old building will be home to 50 rooms, including 14 suites, and three meeting spaces. Guest rooms, which range between $169 and $409 per night, depending on demand, are being booked on HotelVandivort.com. The McQuearys say they don’t have a hard opening date set, but rooms have been booked for late July, so they are under the gun to complete the finishing touches.
To reinforce the boutique model – typically, smaller, stylish hotels in urban settings – the brothers have placed a lot of attention in recent months on the hotel’s restaurant, The Order, a name that plays on its masonic history.
“There’s a real strong movement right now for boutique hotels to include high-end restaurants,” said Karen McQueary, John’s wife, who heads up marketing and public relations for the hotel. “It will offer brunch and a significant dinner experience.”
Owners Billy and John McQueary stand in what will be The Order restaurant. A radio commercial claims, “The Order brings the ambiance of SoHo to SoMo.” McQueary said Springfield-based Food IQ – a division of advertising firm Marlin Network Inc. – developed the menu, which features “modern Missouri” fare. Ingredients will be pulled from local sources, she said.
In February, the McQuearys selected three of the hotel’s key personnel, including The Order’s executive chef, Zach White. White has past experience at Springfield’s Touch Restaurant, Flame Steakhouse, Clary’s and Fish, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. James Roberts, who has held leadership roles at properties including the Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village in Destin, Fla., and Wyndham Vacation Resorts in Destin and Panama City Beach, Fla., was named hotel general manager. On the sales side, Director Nancy Johnson comes with experience directing sales for Holiday Inn in Lincoln, Neb., and in sales, human resources and catering at Comfort Inn & Suites and Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield.
The McQuearys aim to fill a market niche and promote what’s unique and interesting about downtown. Boutique hotels often provide authentic cultural or historic experiences. The view from inside the master suite. The brothers say the top-floor room is being booked for events as much as lodging. “Springfield is hungry for a premier stay,” Karen McQueary said. “We want to create a vibrant social scene.”
To that end, the lobby, restaurant and hotel library on the ground floor – as well as the Walnut-side of the basement floor – are designed as social spaces for millenials and others who might be in town for ArtWalk, a job interview or a Springfield Cardinals game.
The restaurant seats 70, with additional room in the lobby for those grabbing tapas or quick bites. Behind the check-in counter, a wall will be covered in live greenery. An iron staircase is a focal point in the lobby.
With new HVAC and climate-controlled systems, John McQueary expects to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Gold status from the U.S. Green Building Council. In the rooms, guests entering will experience lights that slowly come alive as blinds rise and music plays softly.
“We wanted to create a real sense of arrival when the guest walks in the door,” Karen McQueary said of the in-room technologies by Springfield-based Sensory Integration Inc.
The hotel is designed with atrium suites on the basement level to a 1,500-square-foot master suite on the top floor, featuring an entertaining space with a kitchen, an indoor/outdoor fireplace and a 350-square-foot covered balcony.
Springfield-based Artisan Fabrication LLC built an iron staircase leading to the basement, and the firm will soon install a copper inlay on the 13-foot “V” at the main entrance off of South Robberson Avenue.
Justin Myrick, a project manager and estimator for Artisan Fabrication, said it took a couple of months to construct and install the grand staircase connecting the lobby to the lower level.
“The whole framework and all the chevron panels going up and the fancy curvatures and handrails – that’s all our ironwork,” he said. “We (prefabricated) it in the shop. We actually built the stairs in the shop to make sure it all went together fine and then we took it out there in sections.
“It’s been a giant undertaking, but it’s been a fun ride,” said Myrick, declining to disclose the cost of the staircase.
Weddings and private parties already are booked in the hotel’s three meeting rooms – the 2,800-square-foot Vandivort Ballroom, the 850-square-foot Cornerstone Room and the 250-square-foot Pillar Room – stretching out until Christmas.
Roughly 20 gatherings are on the calendar, and the Vandivort Ballroom has been most popular, Karen McQueary said. She declined to disclose rates.
“We’re really pleased that meeting spaces have been booked before anyone has had the chance to see the rooms,” she said.
The McQuearys project the venture will take over five years to turn a profit.
Though it’s Springfield’s first urban boutique hotel, Hotel Vandivort will join over 1,600 boutique hotels worldwide. According to data by IBISWorld Inc., those properties generated $5 billion in 2013, and industry revenues are projected to grow by 4 percent annually through 2017.
Frances Kiradjian, founder and CEO of the West Hills, Calif.-based Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association, said its hotel investment conference held earlier this month attracted more than 275 registrants. She said via email boutique hotels now represent 5-10 percent of all U.S. hotel properties.[[In-content Ad]]
