Hawkeye Hotels began construction on three new properties. The firm currently has six hotels under construction and plans to begin development on nine more projects in 2017.
“These three properties help drive the spring phase of our 2017 growth strategy,” Ravi Patel, president of Hawkeye Hotels, said in a statement. “Each of these properties is located in high-demand markets that we expect to continue to flourish in coming years. We look forward to more opportunities to serve the states of Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio.”
The properties are a Fairfield Inn & Suites (Grove City, Ohio), a Holiday Inn Express (Marshalltown, Iowa) and a Home2Suites by Hilton (Eagan, Minn.). With these developments, Hawkeye Hotels will have three hotels in the Columbus metro region by the end of 2017 and an expected half dozen projects underway in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region.
“The company has been eager to expand our reach in midwestern states like Minnesota and Ohio,” Raj Patel, chief development officer of Hawkeye Hotels, said in a statement. “Our research shows that these areas are high-performance regions with much potential for growth, and we hope to support the local communities in their economic expansion.”
The new Fairfield Inn & Suites in Grove City lies in Franklin County, which recently became Ohio's most populous county.
The Home2Suites by Hilton is located in the suburb of Eagan, Minn., which recently issued $89 million in permits for health care, retail, corporate office and other commercial spaces. Eagan, which lies south of the Twin Cities, also will host the Minnesota Vikings’ new headquarters and indoor practice facility, the first phase of an overall 200-acre development.
The Holiday Inn Express in Marshalltown is set to arrive when the central Iowa town’s economy is in an upswing. Alliant Energy Generating Station, the largest economic-development project in Marshalltown’s history, recently came to a close, but what lingers is the economic impact of the facility: $47.3 million invested in the area by contractors and workers to date.
All three hotels offer guests a business center, fitness room, pool and free high-speed wireless internet access in each room.
Founded in 1982 with one roadside hotel in Mena, Ark., Hawkeye Hotels has become one of the fastest-growing family-owned hospitality companies in the U.S. Today, Hawkeye Hotels owns and operates over 50 hotels across the country and employs over 1,000 employees across its portfolio of hotels and corporate offices.