Construction is underway on a new high-profile mixed use development at the former Holiday Inn hotel site in downtown Huntsville.

Shane Davis, director of urban development for the City of Huntsville, gave an update on CityCentre at Big Spring at last week's City Council meeting. The project, which is being developed by Huntsville-based RCP Companies, will feature two hotels, 240 multi-family units and an artisanal food hall inspired by Ponce City Market and Krog Street in Atlanta, Eataly in Chicago and The Source in Denver.

AC Hotels will make its Alabama debut at CityCentre with a 150-unit, six-story Marriott hotel, which will have a standalone restaurant, bar and rooftop deck for the public and hotel patrons.

"This will be the 10th AC Marriott in the world and they're all custom-designed for their specific location," Davis said. "Not any one AC Marriott looks alike."

Davis said the food hall, designed by Orlando-based The Gravity Company, will include up to 14 food options in a sit-down dining/fast-casual atmosphere that provides customers the experience of seeing their meal prepared.

The CityCentre presentation lists the following concepts for the market-style food hall: seafood, patio, raw bar, biscuit food stand, burgers, Asian tacos, pizza bar, ice cream, creme brulee, torta food stand, olive oil, coffee, chopped salad, and Mexican street food.

"Where you would sit to dine is a very open format kind of like a food court in a mall would be," Davis said.

Another urban-style hotel, which Davis identified as Residence Inn by Marriott, will have at least 100 rooms and begin construction in the third quarter of 2017. Residence Inn currently has an extended-stay facility on 6305 Residence Inn Road in Huntsville.

RCP has not officially announced Residence Inn's expansion at CityCentre.

"As we commit to plans, elevations, designs, and more great tenants, the ground work construction at CityCentre is well underway," RCP Director Odie Fakhouri told AL.com. "While we are in discussions with Marriott to bring another one of their upscale hotels for guests downtown, the AC Hotel by Marriott and the food hall will be entirely new experiences to Huntsville."

The addition of 250 units between AC Hotels and Residence Inn will bring the city one step closer to its goal of attaining 1,000 rooms in the downtown area. Davis said about three more hotels, or 300 rooms, are needed to help Huntsville compete with peer cities for major conferences.

It is unknown at this time if one or more hotels could rise at the vacant Coca-Cola bottling plant at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Monroe Street near the Von Braun Center.

"We've identified some sites," Davis said. "Naturally, it's up to the private property owner to do that, but we think we'll be successful around the VBC area to get that in the next 24 months or so."

A multistory office, retail or mixed-use component could begin taking shape at CityCentre during the last phase of the project. Davis said the final uses will be determined by market demand.

RCP's private investment in CityCentre will top $60 million, Davis said. The city's 20-year return on investment for the project will be as follows:

Lease revenues: $3.6 million ($14.4 million for entire lease term)

Phase II land sale: $1 million

Property tax: $13.9 million

Sales tax: $10.2 million

20-year ROI: $28.7 million

"The city is not performing any work on the site," Davis said. "All site work and construction for the development will be performed by the developer."

As part of the Lowery Boulevard project, Davis said the city will upgrade the sidewalk and streetscape to blend in with construction. It will cost approximately $1 million to upgrade sidewalks and improve connectivity between Lowery Boulevard, Big Spring International Park, and CityCentre, he added.

Huntsville Councilman Bill Kling questioned Davis about landscaping standards at CityCentre. Davis said Urban Design Associates, the Pennsylvania-based master planner for the project, has committed to heavy landscaping, public plazas for recreation and meetings, expansive courtyards and green spaces at the site.

RCP is also building MidCity at Madison Square Mall, which shares similarities with CityCentre at Big Spring. Davis said RCP has submitted 120 pages of MidCity design guidelines, which officials are reviewing and will make minor comments on before presenting a final agreement to the council.

Watch the full CityCentre presentation on YouTube, beginning at 25:30: