The most recent change gives the developer until Jan. 1, 2023, to start construction on the project, which would be located next to Roanoke City Hall on Peabody Way. As of Nov. 11, there has not been any dirt work done at the location.
The plans for the hotel were originally approved by the council on May 28, 2019, but the project has yet to come to fruition more than three years later, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project was initially supposed to have started construction by April 1, 2020, which was approved in May 2019. In 2021, a Community Impact story gave an update that the projected groundbreaking would happen on March 1, 2022.
The hotel project was announced in 2017, according to previous Community Impact reporting. The city agreed to issue up to $30 million in bonds to help fund the development of the Peabody Hotel and Convention Center. The city would pay for the convention center, a portion of the parking garage and related infrastructure improvements. These will be repaid using hotel occupancy taxes, according to city officials.
The developer will fund the hotel portion of the project. The 266-room hotel and conference center, with its eight-story tower, will sport approximately 43,000-square-feet of meeting space with around 255 garage spaces, a restaurant, a full-service spa and health club as well as a 10,000-square-foot ballroom.
The project is estimated to cost a total of $144 million, according to previous reporting.
A Peabody Hotel is a landmark attraction in Memphis, according to the company website. Like the Tennessee location, the Roanoke Peabody Hotel will feature the Peabody Ducks—a flock that will grace the hotel lobby and fountain, according to meeting documents.
“Our mission for Roanoke has long been focused on creating a unique and authentic sense of place, and we feel that bringing the Peabody brand to Roanoke will be the perfect fit,” Roanoke Mayor Scooter Gierisch said in a 2019 press release.
