Holiday Inn project moves forward

A long-awaited hotel project in Maricopa could be completed within six months to a year.

A three-story, 80-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites is in preparation for construction. The project site is a one-and-a-half-acre lot on the east side of State Route 347, just south of Hathaway Avenue.

Micah Miranda, the city's economic development director, said the project has gone through the site plan approval process, construction permits have been issued and the general contractor is improving the site.

The project’s general contractor, Scott Geyer of Why Hospitality LLC, said workers have finished clearing the site and he and representatives from the city plan to meet with the utility companies Monday to prepare for the infrastructure phase of the construction.

Geyer said he expects the hotel will be completed within a year – possibly in six months.

Holiday Inn had planned to build five hotels in 2011, he said. Because of the recession, none of them were built, including the one planned in Maricopa. Since the economy has improved, banks are again lending money for these types of projects.

The developer, Larry Miller of Matrixx Management, did not return a call from InMaricopa.com. Geyer said Miller is out of the country.

State Route 347 will eventually have to be widened and medians constructed, but he hopes that will not be necessary for the first phase of the project.

The Arizona Department of Transportation approval is not “holding back” the project, Geyer said.

ADOT has not yet responded to requests by InMaricopa.com for information related to the project.

Robert Mathias, city development services manager, said the project has all its land use approval, including all the construction permits, and impact fees have been paid.