Roanoke City Council unanimously approved development and loan agreements for the Peabody Roanoke Hotel at a meeting on Aug. 27. “We are one step closer to the Peabody hotel,” Mayor Scooter Gierisch said at the closing of the meeting. Roanoke will make a $2 million loan to the North Texas Hotel Development Group—the Peabody hotel’s developers. The group is expected to pay $1 million of its own funds toward the total estimated $4.5 million predevelopment costs. This decision comes more than two years after the initial announcement of project plans in June 2017—plans which were finalized at a council meeting May 28. “It’s a lot of steps, but it’s one step at a time,” said Brian Garcia of the North Texas Hotel Development Group. “We’ve gotten through a lot of hurdles with the city so far, so now, we can maybe focus on really building.” A master development agreement for the Peabody Roanoke requires construction to begin by April 1, 2020, though building could begin sooner, as Roanoke City Manager Scott Campbell said at a previous meeting. The hotel will be located on the east side of Roanoke City Hall. Once completed, the hotel will have 300 rooms and over 25,000 square feet of event space, as previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper. The Peabody Roanoke will be built near Roanoke City Hall as part of the Roanoke City Center. The 21.5-acre, mixed-use development expects to bring in residential lofts; retail and office space; and a family entertainment center.