Friday March 29th, 2024 3:49AM

Work continues on the National development in Gainesville

By Austin Eller News Director

Construction is well underway on the National development in Gainesville, which will soon feature a Courtyard by Marriott hotel and an apartment tower just off the Gainesville square.

The hotel will feature 130 rooms and will share the site with 157 apartment units. The site will also feature an underground parking deck with an outdoor plaza that connects the two buildings. It's located at the corner of E E Butler and Spring Street, and will sit on the lot where the First National Bank was located.

Jeff Payne, chairman of Capstone Property Group, said the construction crew was working on putting the roof on the hotel as of the week of July 11. The crew will also soon begin installing windows on the side facing the federal courthouse.

Payne said the big project is the parking deck since the apartment tower will be built on top of it.

There have been a few challenges since they first broke ground on the project at the end of 2021, according to Payne.

"A lot of the infrastructure that's around that site has been there for a long time, so long that nobody really knows where it is," Payne said. "We found that AT&T had a major fiberoptic line that went through the old parking deck, so we had to move that. There are major power structures and water lines all around the site."

However, Payne said they have been able to overcome these challenges thanks to assistance from the utilities and the City of Gainesville. When it comes to the cost of the project, Payne said the only major challenge they have encountered so far is the freight cost for furnishings for the hotel.

"That alone has gone up $180,000," Payne said.

Jonathan Collins, president of Capstone Property Group, said the project is marching forward with its originally scheduled completion dates.

"The hotel will be approximately completed in April of 2023," Collins said. "The plaza ... will be done about that same time. And then the apartment building we plan to open shortly thereafter, probably within a month of the hotel."

 

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