Plans for two six-story hotels on East Second Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets are moving forward.
The project was approved in 2014, but it was delayed by financing, Assistant Community Development Director Nicol Killian told the Design Review Board on Wednesday.
The development has been cleared to build two hotels, a restaurant and a parking garage. The project will replace a home and an apartment, she said. Killian did not say when the project will break ground.
The planned Hampton Inn and Suites and an AC Hotel by Marriott will have about 200 rooms combined, she said.
Plans for the new hotels triggered the need for a new traffic light at East Second Avenue and College Drive, which is currently under construction. A traffic study showed that once the hotels were built, a traffic light would be required.
Traffic patterns in the area will also change as a result of the new hotels. Second Avenue and East Fifth Street will both become two-way streets, Killian said.
Plans for the hotels remain largely unchanged from 2014, aside from a few small tweaks in design, she said.
“They are choosing a few different materials, but they are similar and consistent,” she said.
The city is planning to hold a meeting later this month for neighbors near the project so they can learn more about it, she said.
“We are just going to make sure the construction is as good as it can be for the neighborhood,” Killian said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
