Downtown Cincinnati Hotel Goes Back to Its Roots

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Garfield Suites Hotel

Developers plan to break ground on a new apartment conversion in Cincinnati.

Hotel Capital LLC, the owner of Garfield Suites Hotel, intends to start work next year on a multi-million dollar project which will turn the 153-key property into an apartment community, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported. The Indianapolis-based company motivated its decision by saying that, although the hotel still operates profitably, renovating and converting it into apartments will result in maximum returns on investment. The cost of the project was not disclosed.

Hotel Capital plans to start work in early 2016 and expects construction to take between nine and 12 months. A contractor and an architect for the project have not yet been selected.

Hotel Capital is also yet to reveal how many apartments the new community will have. However, Michael Collier, principal & CEO of the Indianapolis-based company, told the Business Courier that the new apartments will be upscale, with rents not significantly above the market.

What’s interesting about the project is that it brings the downtown hotel back to its original use. The building at 2 Garfield Place was constructed in 1981 and, at that time, featured apartments and retail spaces. The property was converted in downtown Cincinnati’s first all-suites hotel in 1990. Hotel Capital purchased the hotel in 2013 together with its partners, Sun Development and Silver Rock. According to the Business Courier, the Indianapolis-based company bought out the other partners earlier this year and is now the sole owner of the property.

Image via Garfield Suites Hotel