Third Coast Hotel Rendering.jpg

Third Coast Development announced the new 142-room hotel in the Mid Towne Village will be operated as a Hampton Inn and Suites.

(Rendering courtesy of Third Coast Development)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Construction on a new 142-room 5-story Hampton Inn & Suites hotel will begin this spring in the Mid Towne Village development near Michigan Street and College Avenue NE, its developers announced Monday, March 10.

Third Coast Development announced the new hotel will be managed by Lodgco Management, a Mount Pleasant firm that owns and operates 15 hotels in central and western Michigan, including a 94-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites located behind the Green Ridge Square Shopping Center in Walker.

"We believe the Hampton Inn & Suites property will become instantly beneficial to the growing Mid Towne portion of Michigan Street,” said Dave Levitt, a partner with Third Coast, which bought up houses in an aging residential neighborhood to create the village, which includes the Women’s Health Center, Park Row Condos and 545 Michigan Street, a mixed-use office and restaurant building,

“Third Coast Development is very excited to offer this lodging option to the greater Grand Rapids region,” Levitt said in a news release. The hotel will be located on Dudley Street NE near the Women’s Health Center and will include a covered parking deck. Construction is expected to begin in April.

“As a Michigan- based company we are excited to work with Third Coast Development on this landmark project for the city of Grand Rapids,” said Michael Smith, President of Lodgco Management. “This new Hampton Inn & Suites expands our footprint in the Grand Rapids market and brings a great product and good jobs to the Mid Towne area. It’s a great win for everybody.”

The Hampton Inn & Suites will also offer guests a complimentary hot breakfast, free internet, a multi-level parking garage, indoor pool, fitness center and other amenities, the announcement said.

The $27 million hotel project originally was proposed in 2008 and then shelved when credit dried up at the outset of the Great Recession. It was one of four pending hotel projects canceled in Grand Rapids that year.

The project was revived last summer when it qualified for a $3 million low-interest loan from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Third Coast has been one of the city’s most active developers along the “Medical Mile” extending east along Michigan Street NE from Spectrum Health’s downtown campus, the Van Andel Institute and Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.

Last year, Third Coast redeveloped a former lumberyard at Michigan Street and Houseman Avenue NE into medical offices, a retail meat market, a Snap Fitness facility and a row of second-story apartments.

Third Coast also replaced an abandoned gas station at Michigan Street and Eastern Avenue NE last year with a combination car wash/dog wash.

Mount Pleasant-based Lodgco Management opened its first hotel in 1996 and now owns and operate 15 hotels throughout Michigan. They are affiliated with Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotel Group, and Wyndham franchises.

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Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.