Second Dillard's, new hotel being planned for Columbia Mall

COLUMBIA - The Columbia Mall will become home to a second Dillard’s and to a hotel, pending approval by the Columbia City Council, according to the Columbia Missourian.

The Dillard’s would be housed in the vacant building that used to be Sears, which closed in July 2018. The conversion will include interior renovations valued at $200,000, according to a construction permit issued by the city. CDI Contractors will do the work.

The new hotel would be a Tru by Hilton located at the southwest corner of Interstate 70 and Stadium Boulevard. Bryan Properties of Springfield is planning the hotel, according to the Springfield Business Journal. If approved, the millennial-inspired hotel would open in either summer or fall 2020.

Hilton on its website describes the Tru hotel concept as “vibrant, affordable and young-at-heart. It’s energetic, yet relaxing and comfortable. It’s familiar, and it’s also unexpected. It’s completely unprecedented, it’s uniquely Tru.”

Plans for both projects were discussed at a planning meeting at the Daniel Boone City Building on Tuesday. Cochran Engineering is requesting that the city allow the owners to replat the mall lot and to amend its development plan to accommodate the Dillard’s and the hotel projects.

Those requests will be the subject of a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission, which would then forward a recommendation to the council.