Hotel Vandivort may be getting some competition.
Hotelier Tim O’Reilly is planning a downtown boutique hotel via Marriott International Inc.’s burgeoning Moxy Hotels brand. O’Reilly said he’s close to signing a franchise agreement with the company to open the hotel concept at 430 South Ave., an eight-story building that previously housed Great Southern Bank’s downtown branch. O’Reilly’s plans were first reported by the
Springfield News-Leader.
Through South Street Partners LLC, O’Reilly bought the building a couple months ago for an undisclosed amount from G&S Holdings LLC. The building had been co-owned by businessman Richard T. Gregg —
who in 2015 was sentenced to prison for fraud — but O’Reilly said he bought the property from Gregg’s business partner. Secretary of state records on G&S Holdings also list owners Jenny Gregg, Scott Schaefer and Karen Ann Schaefer. South Street Partners LLC is organized by an O’Reilly Hospitality Management employee, according to secretary of state filings.
The CEO of O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC expects to start a 12-month renovation of the downtown building late this year. Declining to estimate project costs, O’Reilly said the finished hotel would have 98 rooms with plans for a rooftop bar, first-floor restaurant and bar, and food and beverage services in the basement.
“It’s just a very modern hotel brand,” O’Reilly said, noting Marriott labels it “industrial chic.” “Their development strategy is big urban downtown centers. A lot of them are going into repurposed older buildings.”
Marriott teamed up with Swedish furniture retailer Ikea in 2013 to launch the Moxy brand. The first location opened in Milan, Italy, in 2014 and since has expanded to 10 hotels in cities including London, Munich, New Orleans and Nashville. Another 49 hotels are scheduled to open in 2017 or 2018, according to the hotel chain’s
website, which does not list Springfield.
Designed to capture the millennial demographic, Moxy Hotels have social spaces, tech-savvy rooms with built-in USB ports, modern furniture and “selfie elevators” with props.
O’Reilly isn’t the only hotelier looking to capitalize on millennials in the Queen City.
At Sunshine Street and Glenstone Avenue, hotelier Gordon Elliott is building a
$4.8 million Vib hotel, Best Western International’s concept designed for millennials.
Downtown, Moxy will compete with homegrown boutique venture Hotel Vandivort. The McQueary brothers launched the $13 million hotel at 305 E. Walnut St. in July 2015.
“Hopefully, it would be a complement to them,” O’Reilly said. “I feel like it will fit in very well in downtown Springfield.”
Currently, real estate brokerage zBuyer is the only tenant at the South Avenue building, but it will relocate should hotel plans materialize, he said.
