Germantown, Tenn. — McNeill Hotel Investors announced the acquisition of the newly built 131-room Hyatt Place Huntsville / Research Park, Ala., the company’s fourth property in the state. The upscale, select-service hotel opened to guests on December 15.
The property includes a 24/7 Coffee to Cocktails Bar with Starbucks products, a business center, meeting space, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, guest laundry, a veranda with an exterior lounge, and a patio and garden area.
The Hyatt Place Huntsville / Research Park is in the northwest quadrant of Research Park Boulevard NW / Madison Pike within the Bridge Street Town Centre, a mixed-use lifestyle center in Huntsville with more than 80 shops and restaurants and a 14-screen Cinemark movie theater. Bridge Street Town Centre also has a five-acre lake, carousel, train ride, walking trail, and live weekend musical entertainment.
The property is also near the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, the University of Alabama Huntsville Bevill Convention Center, Cummings Research Park, Jackson Convention Center, and Charger Field. It is less than 8 miles from Downtown Huntsville to the east and Huntsville International Airport to the west.
As Alabama’s second-largest metropolitan area, Huntsville is a major economic driver for the state and the entire southeast United States. As a well-known hub for aerospace, research, and military technology, Huntsville is home to Redstone Arsenal, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world.
Major employers in Huntsville include the U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Hospital, The Boeing Company, Huntsville City and Madison County schools, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).
Among new economic development, Toyota and Mazda have announced the selection of Hunstville as the site of a new joint-venture manufacturing plant—a $1.6 billion investment with the capacity to build 300,000 vehicles annually. Production is expected to begin by 2021. The site is 14 miles from Toyota Motor Manfacturing of Alabama. Also, Facebook plans to open its new $750 million data center in Huntsville in 2020, with a focus on renewable energy in partnership with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“We are proud to acquire and manage this outstanding newly built property in a market with which we are familiar as we expand our partnership with this Hyatt select service brand,” said Phillip McNeill, Jr., the company’s chief executive officer.
“Rocket City features a major metropolitan area and prosperous economy with a hometown feel, making it attractive to employers, visitors, and residents,” added Mark Ricketts, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “This diverse economy includes strong contributions from aerospace, military technology, health care, advanced manufacturing, data services, and education with the University of Alabama in Huntsville.”
“Additionally,” Ricketts continued, “the hotel itself benefits from a great location within the Bridge Street Town Centre with many other Huntsville attractions nearby. We are pleased to be partnering once again with Hyatt, as we add a second Hyatt brand property to our McNeill select service portfolio.”
The acquisition by McNeill Hotel Investors was facilitated by capital secured by McNeill through New York-based Almanac Realty Investors LLC.
McNeill Hotel Investors and McNeill Hotel Company now own and manage 25 select-service hotels across the Southeast, the Midwest, and Mountain West States, with several additional properties in the acquisition and development pipeline.
