Lake City Hotels Inc. plans to develop and manage two projects near Jacksonville International Airport – TownPlace Suites by Marriott and Tru by Hilton.
Nick Patel, Lake City Hotels vice president and chief operating and development officer, said construction is expected to start by early 2020 for completion by early 2021.
Inn of Jax LLC will own the properties, he said. Its managers are owners of Lake City Hotels, which is based in Lake City.
The hotels will be side-by-side at northeast Airport and Ranch roads.
“The traffic at the airport has increased and we feel confident that as Jacksonville grows, airport traffic will continue to grow,” said Patel.
He said expansion of industry and jobs will create the need for more airport use.
Patel said travelers come to Jacksonville through several arteries – interstates 95 and 10 and the airport. New hotels mean more choices, he said.
Inn of Jax LLC bought the 4.03-acre property July 9 for $2.85 million from RSAS LLC and USA Express Inc. of Miami.
Both hotels are in review.
For TownPlace Suites, the city issued a conditional capacity availability statement for a 103-room, four-story, 60,000-square-foot hotel. Patel said the company is completing plans for the project.
A closed 3,134-square-foot Wendy’s restaurant on the property would be demolished.
Tru by Hilton is shown as a 105-room, four-story, 50,000-square-foot project.
Both hotels have pools and exterior porch areas, Patel said.
Taylor & White Inc. is the civil engineer.
Lake City Hotels has nine properties in Lake City and Gainesville and some of Patel’s partners have properties in Tennessee, he said.
Patel said more are planned. “We are constantly looking for other locations, so we hope we can do more,” he said.
“We visit Jacksonville a lot with our families and it’s a wonderful town. We think Jacksonville has a great future. It has all the ingredients,” Patel said.