Hammons Hotels starts Utah project after delay

The Springfield-based developer was scheduled to begin work last August on its first property in Utah, an Embassy Suites Hotel in Pleasant Grove. The company learned, however, that the property is rated as seismically active – on the same level as San Francisco, according to Hammons Hotels Senior Vice President of Development Scott Tarwater.

“We had to go back and reengineer the structure, and it takes quite a bit of time … to get all of the governmental approvals to build a high-rise facility,” he said. “We had not counted on that, but it’s just one of those things you run into.”

Construction is now under way, and the original spring 2009 opening has been pushed to fall 2009. Springfield firm The Killian Group is general contractor for the nine-story, 300-suite hotel and convention center that together feature more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, according to a news release.

CEO John Q. Hammons says he is impressed by the growth in Utah Valley, where Pleasant Grove is situated, and intends to build two more hotels in the same area within one or two years, the release said. Hammons Hotels recently has focused on the western part of the country, with announcements last year of projects in Colorado and Idaho, in addition to Utah.

Kansas development

John Q. Hammons last week announced plans to build an Embassy Suites Hotel and adjacent conference center in the 200-acre Corporate Ridge office park in Olathe, Kan.

The 11-story, 315-suite project includes 80,000 square feet of meeting space, according to a news release. Hammons will own the property, and his Springfield-based company, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, will manage it.

Construction is expected to begin this fall and wrap up in spring 2010.

Other major tenants at the office park are Garmin and Farmers Group Inc. and headquarters for Terracon Consultants Inc. and The National Board for Respiratory Care.

“As one of the fastest-growing cities in the Midwest, Olathe has a long-term vibrancy I can appreciate,” Hammons said in the release. “It is predicted that more than 100 companies will relocate to the general Olathe area in the next five to 10 years.”

This would be Hammons’ fourth development in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The Olathe City Council on June 17 unanimously approved a development agreement with Hammons that gives project developers a 100 percent property-tax abatement for 10 years, The Kansas City Star reported.[[In-content Ad]]