Two new hotels are under development in Mishawaka, Ind. The 115-room Holiday Inn & Suites and the 70-room Candlewood Suites are located on Douglas Road, and are being built in order to create more options for football fans of the University of Notre Dame, which draws crowds as a result of its games.
Both hotels are being built by JSK Hospitality. The Holiday Inn expected to open this month, while the Candlewood Suites has a planned November opening. The Holiday Inn will be operated by 35 employees, and the Candlewood by 15.
"We’re pushing as hard as we can to get the hotel open so we can capture as many home Notre Dame football games as possible,” said Dan Boecher, VP of asset management and development for JSK. The project encountered difficulties during the development process due to the area's limited worker availability. “The labor market has tightened up here because we’re now subject to a lot of commercial construction activity in St. Joseph County.”
JSK is also acting as general contractor for the projects. A 2,000-square-foot restaurant and an 8,200-square-foot conference center will be located at the Holiday Inn, and will be managed by the Navarre Hospitality Group. The conference center will have enough room to host events for up to 500 people, and will also accommodate conferences, business meetings, wedding receptions and parties.