Submitted Photo The new Courtyard by Marriott in D’Iberville will be within walking distance of the movies and bowling and close to many shops and restaurants.
D’Iberville — Add a Courtyard by Marriott to the projects under construction off Sangani Boulevard.
Groundbreaking for the $16 million Go-Zone project was Tuesday, and beyond the tent for the ceremony, the walls were already going up on the 125-room hotel. The site is across from the Grand Theatre on Cinema Drive.
“It’s a natural fit to put a hotel here,” said Glenn Pedersen, president of Pineapple Management Services, which will manage the Marriott.
Over the past 10 years, Bharat Sangani has built many of the retail and restaurant complexes off Sangani Boulevard. Other developers are now building a bowling alley and The Promenade shopping center that will open in October.
“Anything a guest would look for is here,” said Pedersen.
Encore Enterprises, owned by Sangani, plans to open the new hotel by April or May 2010. The hotel will employ about 30 people with an annual payroll of $750,000.
The hotel will have Marriott’s redesigned bistro lobby with Starbucks Coffee, a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner and a lounge. Among the amenities will be an indoor swimming pool, exercise room, meeting room and business center.
Linda Hornsby, executive director of the Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association, said the Marriott is another step toward adding more hotel rooms lost to Hurricane Katrina. The economy has caused some hotel projects to be postponed, and she said with the Marriott brand “they’ve got a dedicated fan club.”
City Manager Richard Rose said one hotel was demolished to make way for The Promenade. Besides the movies, bowling, restaurants and shops that will be accessible to Marriott guests, he said a city park is being built just east of the hotel.
Councilman Henry Toncrey Jr. represents Ward 2, where the hotel is being built. He said a new interchange is planned off Interstate 10 to make the area more accessible. The Sangani and Promenade roads will be expanded to five lanes.
