Hammons' Residence Inn to open in August

Developer John Q. Hammons will open in August his second Marriott hotel in Springfield, this time on the south side.

The Residence Inn, a 113,400-square-foot, 138-suite hotel, will employ more than 100 and is located next door to Extended Stay America at 1303 E. Kingsley. The project's estimated cost is listed as approximately $5.4 million in the building permit filed with the city of Springfield.

Hammons opened a Courtyard By Marriott at 3527 W. Kearney, near the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport, in early 2000.

Killian Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project. Steve A. Minton, a staff architect for Hammons, designed the hotel, which will resemble a Bavarian village. Pellham Phillips Hag-erman Architects-Engineers also provided architectural services for the new Residence Inn.

Hammons said he chose the Kingsley location because of its proximity to James River Freeway and the Medical Mile, as well as various retail outlets and restaurants.

"Within a two-mile radius there, there's a lot going on," Hammons said. "I'm very careful about where I put hotels."

Hammons said that nationally he builds three to four Marriotts a year. He began building Marriott hotels, he said, because the Marriott properties are considered by many to be No. 1 in the industry in terms of quality and reservation service, and because the Marriott corporation allows him to build in key markets and key locations across the country.

"I built 67 Holiday Inns before I switched to the more upscale hotels. I made the decision 16 years ago to go upscale all the way," Hammons said.

He said he was granted the franchise license to build a Residence Inn when the Courtyard was being built, and that it took little time to decide where he wanted the new Residence Inn to be located.

"I've known for years that Springfield would have a freeway system around it," Hammons said. "We needed that 20 years ago, but we're just now getting it."

Hammons said the presence of Extended Stay America next door did not influence his decision to build a Residence Inn on the site, which is adjacent to Zio's.

The hotel will feature an outdoor pool and an exercise room, as well as four meeting rooms comprising 2,000 square feet of meeting space. He said suite rates will range from $100 to $125.

Meanwhile, Extended Stay America General Manager Melody Camp said she's not worried about competing with Residence Inn for guests.

"I'm not worried about it ... the Residence Inn will be more of a full-service hotel, whereas we deal with people who stay with us for an extended length of time. We're an economy-type hotel," Camp said. "I think that our clientele are so totally different that it won't be a problem." Room rates at Extended Stay America are $44 to $54 and guests usually stay about a month, Camp said.