100-year-old building will become Springhill Suites
Developers plan to spend $14 million turning an iconic, 100-year-old downtown Montgomery building into a Springhill Suites hotel.
The Advertiser first reported in May that the wedge-shaped Bishop-Parker building across from Riverwalk Stadium had been sold and would be turned into a hotel. Developer John Tampa said at a Wednesday announcement that the intention is to offer not just a hotel but “an experience.”
“This will not be your typical hotel room,” Tampa said. “It will be more an experience. It will take you back in the past and the golden age of this building, and also take you to the present.”
Renovation work will start around the end of the year and take about 14 months. Tampa said the exterior will remain mostly untouched, and the building’s historic charm will be balanced by a “modern, urban feel” to the interior design. It will feature a “vibrant lobby” and bar, with room prices ranging from about $139 to $159, Tampa said.
Tampa owns four other Montgomery hotels, including the Hampton Inn and the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown.
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The 152 Coosa St. building was built between 1905 and 1907 by Schloss & Kahn Wholesale Grocers, and Bishop-Parker used it as a furniture store and warehouse for two decades. The building has about 80,000 square feet of space and features ceilings that are 16 to 17 feet high.
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said Bishop-Parker has vacated the building and is renovating another space near the One Center, formerly Montgomery Mall. Bishop-Parker was founded in Montgomery in 1923 and said in May that it is "stronger than ever" but decided to relocate its warehouse. Its primary store at 3035 E. South Blvd. was unaffected.
Strange said the announcement is the third of four downtown hotel projects that have been in the works for a while. The most recent was a $12.5 million hotel project that was announced for the former downtown skate park site in June. He said the fourth hotel will be announced soon.
Montgomery has led the state in hotel occupancy rate for more than three years.
Dawn Hathcock of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce said there are more than 900 hotel rooms currently open downtown. She said the hotels that are on the way would push the city over a threshold that will allow it to compete for larger conventions.
Strange pointed to officials from nearby hotels at the Wednesday announcement for the new Springhill Suites. “They know the more hotel rooms we get, the bigger the conventions can be,” Strange said.
