Rendering of the Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott on Monroe Street in downtown Huntsville. (Rendering courtesy of the city of Huntsville)

Construction crews finally were able to start work on a new downtown Huntsville, Ala., hotel, a project long delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The multi-story hotel also grew bigger during the down time.

The Autograph Collection by Marriott is being built at the southwest corner of the reconstructed parking garage on Monroe Street across from the Von Braun Center's Propst Arena. Originally approved by the city council in March 2019, the hotel was initially designed to encompass six floors and 187 rooms.

Now, according to AL.com, the statewide online news service, updated plans show the hotel with eight floors and more than 200 rooms.

Additionally, the $40 million project will have a rooftop bar overlooking Big Spring Park as well as two full-service restaurants and a conference/banquet space.

The hotel's developer, Ascent Hospitality of Buford, Ga., wants to see it finished by late 2023 or early 2024, AL.com noted.

The Huntsville City Council in 2020 sold 0.7 acres to Ascent at a cost of $1.6 million. The land was formerly included in the original parking garage.

City Has Added Several Hotels in Recent Years

Municipal officials have worked successfully for the last several years to boost downtown Huntsville's inventory of hotel rooms to accommodate larger conferences at the Von Braun Center.

The rebuilt parking garage, which will wrap around parts of the Autograph, included plans for guest parking at the hotel and the Hampton Inn on the northern side.

When open to guests, the Autograph will be the latest in a hotel growth spurt in the downtown district that includes plans for two more hotels at other nearby projects. Three hotels have opened in central Huntsville since March 2019: The AC Hotel by Marriott on Williams Street, Jefferson 106 (a Curio by Hilton brand) on Jefferson Street, and the Hampton Inn at Monroe Street and Clinton Avenue.

A fifth hotel also is planned as part of a $325 million development known as Front Row at the former site of the Coca-Cola bottling plant on Clinton Avenue., while a sixth — the Moxy hotel next to the AC Hotel — is envisioned for the third phase of CityCentre.

Huntsville's Front Row to Grow Its Downtown

Rocket Development Partners, a joint venture of Essex Capital and Ascend Property Group, "is set to deliver an incomparable mix of residential, retail and office spaces, entertainment and community" to the heart of Alabama's largest city, according to a press release from the developers.

The project will cover 11 acres and will be across Clinton Avenue from the Von Braun Center. It will include multi-family residences — "unlike anything currently found in the market," the press release said — as well as chef-inspired restaurants, Class A office space, a boutique hotel and "an active, accessible urban plaza for community events and programming."

"The unparalleled project matches the exciting growth and vibrancy of the Huntsville community and will be one of the most transformative projects to the city's evolving downtown core," Rocket Development Partners predicted.

The city of Huntsville is investing $18 million in support of the project while city officials expect the final product to generate about $43 million in taxes over 10 years.

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