Ryan Phillips
Birmingham Business Journal
August 21, 2015

A major development on the vacant former downtown Holiday Inn site in Huntsville should be under construction early next spring.

The contract says developers of the hotel, apartment and dining development hope to have the necessary building permits by Jan. 11, 2016, and start construction on March 11, 2016, according to a report from AL.com.

The developers of the $70 million CityCentre at Big Spring project plans to begin construction on the hotel and retail phases first.

The new hotel, shops and restaurants at CityCentre are situated around the Williams Avenue-Monroe Street intersection and are scheduled to open in January 2017. The hotel and retail space will occupy 2.82 acres on the west side of the property.

Plans call for about 230 apartments, plus 40,000 square feet of professional office space on the remaining 4.9 acres.

RCP Companies will lead the development team and plans to build a boutique-style hotel with about 150 rooms and 25,000-plus square feet of retail space overlooking the Von Braun Center and Big Spring Park.

The name of the hotel is expected to be announced in the next few days.

The Huntsville City Council last week approved a measure to subdivide the former Holiday Inn tract into two pieces.

RCP Companies requested the subdivision because the hotel and apartments will be operated as separate joint ventures with other firms.

Apartment construction at CityCentre is expected to begin Aug. 10, 2016, with a planned completion date of Oct. 4, 2017.

The second phase of CityCentre calls for another hotel with at least 100 rooms near the downtown public library.

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Ryan Phillips is the Online Editor and Digital Producer for the Birmingham Business Journal