Posted online January 16, 2018 | 4:25 pm

Last edited 11:18 a.m., Jan. 17, 2018

The owners of Hotel Vandivort are doubling the size of the downtown boutique hotel with a planned expansion.



John McQueary, who co-owns the hotel with his brother Billy, said Hotel Vandivort is adding a second, 42,000-square-foot building northwest of its current property. The second building will take shape at McDaniel Street and Robberson Avenue, where the McQuearys own a parking lot for Hotel Vandivort guests.



“We’re excited to add some urban density and fill that landscape with a beautiful building instead of a crumbling parking lot,” John McQueary said.



Declining to disclose the planned investment in the expansion, McQueary said the second building would add 48 rooms to its current slate of 50, as well as a fifth-story rooftop bar called The Vantage. The McQuearys invested $13 million to renovate a former masonic temple at 305 E. Walnut St. for the 44,000-square-foot Hotel Vandivort that opened in July 2015.



“We certainly saw more demand faster than we expected,” McQueary said, declining to disclose how many rooms were booked last year.



The buildings would be connected by a street-level walkway. McQueary said the walkway would comprise an existing sidewalk and a covered portion near the second building. It would not block the street, he said, meaning guests would cross the alley to get between the two properties.



The owners intend to break ground this spring for an opening a year later. McQueary said Bates & Associates Inc. is the architect for the project that will soon go to bid for a contractor.



As construction begins, McQueary said Hotel Vandivort will partner with downtown parking lot and garage owners to park its guests’ vehicles. He said the hotel is launching a new valet parking operation this spring to help in the effort.



Nearly three years after the opening of Hotel Vandivort in the century-old Walnut Street building, McQueary said he expects the construction of its second building to be a simpler process.



“Once we get out of the ground, we’re not going to discover anything new,” he said. “In the original building, we were discovering all types of fun stuff in the foundation and in the walls.”



Elsewhere downtown, hotelier Tim O’Reilly last year confirmed he was working on bringing Marriott International Inc.’s Moxy Hotels boutique brand to Springfield. O’Reilly could not be reached for comment by deadline on the status of the plans, which call on the renovation of an eight-story building at 430 South Ave. Moxy-Hotels.Marriott.com does not list a Springfield hotel among its portfolio of properties in the works. No building permits are on file with the city, and Springfield Business Journal has not observed any physical evidence of renovation work.