Friday, May 08, 2009
Cambria Suites construction may be getting back on track
The project on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke has been in limbo for more than two months.
The latest from The Ticker blog
Construction of the Cambria Suites hotel on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke has proceeded in fits and starts and, most notably, plagued by prolonged stops.
Yet, judging from a building permit application filed May 1, a fresh start might be in the works -- with the emphasis on "might."
The most recent stop occurred more than two months ago, when Roanoke-based general contractor J.M. Turner & Co. pulled its workers and trailers off the job, citing money owed by the developer. Much of the building's exterior had been completed.
In January, J.M. Turner filed two mechanic's liens against owner Roanoke Hotel Group for a total of about $1.4 million and shut down construction. Subcontractors were owed money, too.
Now, Maple Creek Construction, a general contractor based in Sun Prairie, Wis., has filed for a building permit.
Maple Creek did not return phone calls Thursday. Mike Farris, president of J.M. Turner, could not be reached for comment. Ryan Eller, a member of a development group that has included the Telemark Hotel Group in Wisconsin, did not return phone calls.
Warner Dalhouse of Roanoke is an investor in the project. He said he understands that J.M. Turner and the developers have met to try to reconcile conflicts. He emphasized that he has no information about any outcome.
Dalhouse said Maple Creek has experience building Cambria Suites hotels and has guaranteed it will complete the hotel by September.
In September 2007, the Roanoke City Council agreed to grant Telemark $1 million in tax rebates to help offset costs incurred adapting the hotel's design to prevent flood damage from the Roanoke River. The rebates' conditions included a requirement that the hotel open this September.
In early March, Farris said he had told the developers that if construction started back that month "we could have them in there by the end of the year."
Cambria Suites is a franchise brand of Choice Hotels International, a publicly traded company based in Maryland. Its many other brands include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn.
The Reserve Avenue hotel will reportedly comprise 127 suites and rooms.
Carilion Clinic is transforming the redevelopment area along Reserve Avenue and South Jefferson Street into a medical complex. Virginia Tech is a player, too. Hotel investors believe the Cambria Suites could meet demand for lodging by patients and their families and also rent rooms to travelers and businesspeople.
Construction delays have occurred before at the hotel site for reasons that have included a change in architects, negotiations with the city about incentives and financing problems. The project once remained idle for nearly a year.
Dalhouse said he is sure the hotel will get built. But the prolonged delays, the September deadline and potential legal fallout from conflicts between J.M. Turner and the developers have worried investors.
"The lawyers get involved and time doesn't seem that important to them -- but it is to investors," he said.
During an earlier interview, Dalhouse said he has invested about $130,000 in the project.
Staff writer Sarah Bruyn Jones contributed to this report.
