Several nonhospitality buildings are being transformed into new hotels that are scheduled to debut in the next few months.
Texas
Development Services Group has tapped Davidson Hotels & Resorts to manage the Kimpton Harper Hotel, a new hotel slated for opening in spring 2021. Located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, in close proximity to the Fort Worth Convention Center and Sundance Square, the 226-room Kimpton Harper is operated by Davidson’s lifestyle and luxury division, Pivot Hotels & Resorts, and housed within the historic Farmers and Mechanics National Bank landmark building. Upon completion, the hotel will have a penthouse bar and lounge, an Italian restaurant, a rooftop observation deck and 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Connecticut
Owner, developer and architect Bruce Becker, president of Becker + Becker Associates, has selected third-party hotel management company Chesapeake Hospitality to manage the 165-room boutique Hotel Marcel, a redevelopment project currently underway in New Haven, Conn.
The renovation kicked off in summer and is expected to be fully complete by summer 2021. The building, designed in 1967 by Marcel Breuer as the Armstrong Rubber Company Building, is presently known as the Pirelli Building and has been vacant for 32 years.
The completed hotel will have 165 guestrooms, a full-service restaurant and bar and 7,000 square feet of gallery and meeting space. The Hotel Marcel will be part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
The property is aiming to be the first Passive House-certified hotel and the first net-zero energy hotel in the United States. It will generate as much power as it uses from solar energy and will be 60 percent more energy efficient than building codes require. Designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the property will utilize solar power generated from rooftop and parking canopy arrays, which will provide 100 percent of electricity for lighting, heating and cooling. It also will use thermal insulation, an energy recovery system, high-efficiency variable refrigerant flow air-source heat pumps and Power over Ethernet high-efficiency LED lighting.
Becker + Becker and Chesapeake Hospitality are working with New York-based Dutch East Design on the branding and interior design consult for the hotel. The project has been financed in large part through a senior loan from Liberty Bank and the sale of federal and state historic tax credits to Bank of America.
Rhode Island
Paolino Properties recently updated the historic 1887 Exchange Building in the Westminster neighborhood of Providence, R.I., which is set to reopen in December as the Beatrice, a 47-room boutique hotel.
The property’s interiors have modern design details to contrast with the 19th century bones of the building. The hotel will have a fitness room, a rooftop bar and a restaurant. The Beatrice will be managed by Main Street Hospitality Group.