2 hotels to be built in downtown Salt Lake City

Two new hotels in Salt Lake City will be erected south of EnergySolutions Arena, and although they won't fulfill the need for a convention hotel, they are being touted as a welcome addition to downtown.

U.S. Bank announced Tuesday it had closed on a $19.4 million construction loan for the project. Alex. Brown Realty, PEG Development and Blue Diamond Capital have partnered to develop the properties.

The $65 million mixed-use development will include a 159-room extended-stay Hyatt House, a 175-room Courtyard by Marriott, a parking garage and ground-level retail at the intersection of 100 South and 300 West.

Although there's already a Hyatt Place just three blocks from the new development site, PEG Development's Robert Schmidt says the it targets short-term travelers, while the new Hyatt House will be an extended-stay facility.

"We think it fills a gap in the Salt Lake market," Schmidt said.

He added that an existing Courtyard by Marriott at 130 W. 400 South will be rebranded as a Fairfield Inn to make way for the new higher-end Courtyard by Marriott.

"[Marriott] really liked the [100 South] site, with its proximity to the Salt Palace [Convention Center], The Gateway, and walking distance to City Creek" shopping center, he said.

These hotels will be the first built in the downtown area since 2009.

Scott Beck of Visit Salt Lake welcomes the development, but he said they will not fill the much-needed niche of a full-service convention center hotel with meeting rooms, catering and other amenities. That idea has been backed by many business and civic leaders to complement the Salt Palace, but was rejected for public funding by the Legislature earlier this year.

The new hotels "will be incredible additions to Salt Lake City," Beck said, but they "will not help us land more national conventions."

Schmidt says construction on the 100 South hotel complex has begun, but an official ground-breaking ceremony is set for Tuesday. An opening is set for late 2014 or early 2015.

The site was home to a storage warehouse and surface parking lot.