Long-delayed hotel opens in north Springfield

Last edited 1:34 p.m., Oct. 9, 2019

A hotel opened this week in north Springfield — five years after crews broke ground on it.

Joplin developer A R Enterprises Inc. added 92 rooms to the market with the Oct. 7 opening of SpringHill Suites by Marriott, at 2025 E. Kerr St., along a hotel-heavy corridor. Located off North Glenstone Avenue adjacent to Interstate 44, the hotel is managed by Dallas-based Hospitality Management Corp., according to a news release.

Springfield Business Journal previously reported expired permits had held back development of the estimated $5 million hotel. Partnership changes also were a factor, as A R Enterprises previously was working with Colorado-based H&H Management Group. The project site sat idle for months, and by 2017, the Colorado company no longer was involved.

SpringHill Suites is part of Marriott International Inc.’s Classic Select Brands portfolio, according to the release.

“As a brand opening a new hotel every 10 days on average, we are delighted that the SpringHill Suites Springfield North is the latest addition to our growing number of properties across the United States and Canada,” said Janis Milham, senior vice president and global brand leader for Classic Select Brands, in the release.

The hotel also has 1,500 square feet of meeting space, an indoor pool, fitness center and other amenities.

The SpringHill Suites joins more than a dozen hotels located north of Kearney Street along Glenstone Avenue. Recent additions include O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC’s Holiday Inn Express & Suites and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott.

Springfield Convention & Visitor Bureau data show hotel occupancy was 63% through August, compared with 65.5% at the same time in 2018. For the first eight months of 2019, revenue per available room in Springfield came to $54.61, which was down from $56.06 during the same period in 2018.

Tracy Kimberlin, the CVB’s president and CEO, said Springfield has 6,175 hotel rooms via 65 properties, including SpringHill. Tru by Hilton, which is scheduled to open this month, would add another 98 rooms.