Sir Richard Branson coming to Nashville for Virgin Hotels groundbreaking

A Sept. 20 groundbreaking date is now set for the much-delayed Virgin Hotels Nashville, which will rise at the corner of Division Street and 17th Avenue South near Music Row.

Virgin's billionaire founder Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Hotels CEO Raul Leal will join executives from developer The Buccini/Pollin Group, construction management team BPGS Construction and Nashville city leaders for the ceremonies at the project site.

December 2015: Virgin Hotels Nashville changes to one tower, no condos

November 2016: Developer named for Virgin Hotels Nashville

Virgin Hotels Nashville will include 240 rooms, 10,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop pool and bar, but no retail space. The lifestyle hotel is expected to open in 2019.

Related: Virgin America to begin daily flights between Nashville and San Francisco

Currently, there's a Virgin Hotels location in Chicago with another scheduled to open in San Francisco this coming winter. New locations have also been announced for Palm Springs and Silicon Valley in California plus in New York City, New Orleans and Dallas.

Dave Pollin, Chris Buccini and Rob Buccini of Wilmington, Del.-based developer and hotelier The Buccini/Pollin Group are all expected attend next Wednesday's event.

British billionaire Branson, who founded the Virgin Group, was in the news recently for riding out Hurricane Irma in a fortified wine cellar on his private island in the Caribbean.

Reach Getahn Ward at gward@tennessean.com or 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.