Developer says Holiday Inn open by holidays

A Holiday Inn Express project in the city of Maricopa is back on track and scheduled to break ground in the second quarter of 2011, according to the developer behind the project Larry Miller.

Maricopa Mayor Anthony Smith first announced the project in February 2010 at the state of the city address. At the time, Miller said the project would be completed by November of 2010.

Miller said roadblocks he hit when trying to get approvals from the Arizona Department of Transportation were responsible for the delay.

He added he is now in the final stages of securing ADOT approval on the project and that he received site plan approval from the city of Maricopa Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan 24.

“We should be breaking ground early second quarter and be open by the holidays,” Miller said.

The planned hotel would feature 80 rooms on a 6-acre site on the east side of John Wayne Parkway just south of Maricopa Self Storage.

Now that plans have firmed up, Miller said a sandwich company, sit-down restaurant and coffee shop company have all begun negotiating with him about opening on the hotel campus.

“There is a huge need in this community for a hotel because of all of the employees at the two test tracks, out-of-town visitors and others,” Miller said.

In a February interview about the prospect of the hotel in Maricopa, Danielle Casey, the city’s economic development director, said a hotel would create revenue for the city in the form of a 2-percent sales tax and a 2-percent bed tax. Assuming an average nightly occupancy of 60 rooms at a rate of $100 per night, that could translate into nearly $90,000 in revenue for the city.

When property taxes, wages to employees and other factors are weighed, Casey said the financial windfall for the city could approach $2.3 million during a five-year timeframe. There would be other positive economic impacts as well.

“When companies look at Maricopa as a possible place to locate a business, a hotel is one of the things they are looking for,” Casey said.  “Businesspeople do not like to have to stay out of town and drive into the city. And if they build here, they would like to be able to have a place near their company for potential partners to stay when they come to town.”