It’s a common sight among car dealerships: You may head to a Dodge dealership and see a group of Jeep or Chrysler branded automobiles on sale at the same lot. Why? Because they all share a parent company in Fiat. Go to a Chevrolet dealership, and you’ll see a bunch of Buicks and GMCs, and Volkswagens, Audis, and Porsches are sure to be found together, as well. Car dealerships often end up as a bit of a grab bag of the parent company’s brand offerings with three or four separate brands occupying one lot.
This same blending of multiple brands is not so common across all industries, however. Take, for example, hotels. Sure, there are plenty of dual-branded hotels across the country, but three brands in one building has never happened before. But that’s all about to change thanks to the new 22-story Marriott Hotel currently under construction in downtown Nashville. The hotel will be the first of its kind by featuring three Marriott brands in one building.
The $137 million tri-branded Marriott hotel will comprise 470 rooms spread across the AC Hotels, Residence Inn, and SpringHill Suites brands. The AC Hotels brand will occupy 209 rooms in one wing while the adjoining wing will feature the SpringHill Suites (occupying 125 rooms) and the Residence Inn (occupying 136 rooms).
The L-shaped building will highlight all three brand logos on its exterior and guests will have three distinct hospitality experiences, but behind-the-scenes operations and spaces will be combined to reduce ongoing expenses.
North Point Hospitality’s (the hotel developer) plans call for a large pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, and a large conference and meeting space on the top floor. These robust amenity offerings are common among multi-brand hotels.
JE Dunn was selected to build the hotel and construction is currently underway in the downtown Nashville submarket known as SoBro (south of Broadway), an up and coming area with multitudinous new dining, shopping, and entertainment options. The project is scheduled to open in 2018. Winford Lindsay Architect is the architect of record.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
New website highlights government tax incentives for large commercial buildings
Energy Retrofit Group (ERG), the subsidiary of 40-year-old, award-winning Adache Group Architects, Inc., has announced the creation of their new energy conservation web site: www.energy-rg.com.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Callison strengthens retail design presence with RYA acquisition
Callison LLC on June 1 acquired RYA Design Consultancy, a Dallas-based retail architecture and design firm with offices in New York City. The new “Callison RYA Studio” will merge staff and clients into Callison ’s existing retail practice at their Dallas and New York offices.
| Aug 11, 2010
RSMeans/RCD forecast 14% drop in hospital construction for 2009
RSMeans forecasts a 14% drop in hospital construction in 2009 compared to 2008, with $17.1 billion in registered hospital projects as of June 30, 2009. The Reed Construction Data unit finds renovation of healthcare facilities increasing, from 36% of projects in 2008, to 40% of projects in the pipeline in the first six months of 2009.
| Aug 11, 2010
The Joule Hotel
Dallas, Texas
The Joule Hotel in Dallas, designed by local firm Coburn & Smith, was constructed in 1927 as the Dallas National Bank Building. Originally one of the finest examples of gothic revival architecture in Texas, it had had most of its gothic elements removed over the years after being converted into an office building and later abandoned. What was left had fallen into disrepair.
| Aug 11, 2010
AECOM, WATG top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest hotel design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Hotel Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
ASHRAE introduces building energy label prototype
Most of us know the fuel efficiency of our cars, but what about our buildings? ASHRAE is working to change that, moving one step closer today to introducing its building energy labeling program with release of a prototype label at its 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Ky.
| Aug 11, 2010
RMJM unveils design details for $1B green development in Turkey
International architecture company RMJM today announced details of the $1 billion Varyap Meridian development it is designing in Istanbul’s new residential and business district, which will be one of the "greenest" projects in Turkey. The luxury 372,000-square-meter development on a site totalling 107,000 square meters will be located in the Atasehir district of Istanbul, which the Turkish government intends to transform into the country’s new financial district and business center.
| Aug 11, 2010
Urban Land Institute honors five 'outstanding' developments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Five outstanding developments have been selected as winners of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) 2009 Awards for Excellence: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) competition. This year, the competition also included the announcement of two special award winners. The Awards for Excellence competition is widely regarded as the land use industry’s most prestigious recognition program.