Moxy Springfield Downtown launches

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Last edited 2:01 p.m., June 24, 2024 [Editor's note: Information about the opening has been added.]

The newest entry in Marriott International Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MAR) Moxy Hotels brand, Moxy Springfield Downtown, is open for business.

The eight-story, 98-room hotel is the first Moxy to launch in Missouri and joins 44 other locations in North America, including two in Canada, according to Marriott’s website. The 52,000-square-foot building, which was built in 1930 and underwent a multiyear development, is planning to open today and is accepting room reservations, pending final inspection, according to O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC officials. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the hotel with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is planned for Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Infill activity, which included demolition of most of the interior walls and ceilings of the building in preparation for a complete reconstruction, began in late 2021, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Hotel officials previously expected Moxy Springfield Downtown to open in late April or early May when providing SBJ with a tour of the construction site in late March.

O’Reilly Build LLC served as general contractor for the project designed by Buxton Kubik Dodd Design Collective.

The goal to open a new downtown hotel began in 2017 when O’Reilly Hospitality Management CEO Tim O’Reilly, through South Street Partners LLC, purchased the building for an undisclosed price from G&S Holdings LLC. The structure most recently housed Great Southern Bank’s downtown branch. O’Reilly then signed a franchise agreement with Marriott in 2018 after being impressed with the Moxy concept, which the company launched in 2013. He declined to disclose his company’s investment in the hotel project.

Aside from its room portfolio offering king, double queen and bunk bed options, the Moxy includes The Eyrie, a 3,300-square-foot rooftop bar and restaurant, a first-floor space dubbed Bar Moxy that doubles as the check-in area, and a basement with over 1,800 square feet for meetings and events that houses a food and beverage concept called The Subterranean.

O’Reilly previously told SBJ the Bar Moxy area also operates as a coffee spot in the daytime. Echelon Coffee LLC is the coffee supplier, he said. The coffee company also leases space from O’Reilly Hospitality Management at 2407 N. Glenstone Ave., where it opened its shop in 2021, according to past SBJ reporting.

At The Eyrie, officials say there’s a bird theme to menu items, such as Flying Fig Flatbread, Soarin’ Bao Buns and The Talon Mojito. Drink rails are positioned along the rooftop to allow customers to take in an expansive view of downtown.

“We’ll be creative with that space, too,” O’Reilly said during the March facility tour. “We’ll be having sunrise yoga up here when the weather’s nice and all sorts of fun little stuff.”

Kerrie Van Sickle, regional director of sales and public relations with O’Reilly Hospitality Management, said via email that Susan Smith is the new general manager at Moxy, adding she joined the company in late May. Smith is filling the position previously held by Jan Vanco, who Van Sickle confirmed recently exited the company. He began work in May as an area general manager for GF Hotels & Resorts in Houston, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile.