New, $20M Courtyard Marriott Hotel To Open in Downtown Baton Rouge

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Downtown Baton Rouge’s New Courtyard Marriott

A new hotel is coming to downtown Baton Rouge. Windsor Aughtry Co. Inc. announced its plans to construct a Courtyard Marriott Hotel on 260 Third Street, in the middle of Downtown’s Historic Third Street Corridor.

The new hotel will cost $20 million. It will stand eight stories tall, with approximately 85,000 square feet of space. Construction is expected to start in the second quarter of 2015, pending city approvals. The new Courtyard Marriott Hotel could open in the third quarter of 2016.

Once finished, the hotel will feature 147 rooms and an entry plaza area. Thirty-five percent of the rooms will be equipped with balconies. The development will create 45 permanent jobs, 125 construction and 30 service related jobs. Hospitality America Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn., has been selected to manage the hotel.

The new Courtyard Marriott is designed by Bounds and Gillespie Architects PLLC. and, according to the developer, its specific Third Street location pays homage to the Hotel Istrouma, the first hotel in downtown Baton Rouge, once occupying the same location on Third Street.

This is Windsor Aughtry’s second downtown development in three years. It brings the company’s total total investment in the area to nearly $40 million. It also helps Baton Rouge achieve its goal to have more than 1,000 available hotel rooms downtown.

“This exciting announcement puts Baton Rouge over 1,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of our River Center, which means we just got even more competitive in hosting conventions and large entertainment events. When you consider in 2001, we had zero hotel rooms downtown, the revitalization we have accomplished in such a short time proves why Baton Rouge is being called the gold standard for downtown development. Today we thank the Windsor Aughtry Co., already a valuable asset to Baton Rouge with its Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown and now an even bigger contributor to our success. This is a project we all look forward to,” Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden said in a statement for the press.

Rendering courtesy of Windsor Aughtry Company, Inc.