Plans are moving forward for the University of Mary Washington Foundation’s construction of a $14 million-plus select-service hotel in the second phase of the Eagle Village mixed-use development across U.S. 1 from the Fredericksburg campus of the University of Mary Washington. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012.
The five-story hotel, to be located between Giant Food and the Eagle Village Executive Offices, will feature 93 studio rooms or suites, several meeting and conference rooms for public use, and a 24-hour food and beverage service for guests. The 66,500-square-foot facility also will include an indoor pool and a fitness center. In addition, the building will house approximately 1,600 square feet of retail space, possibly a day spa, according to Jeff Rountree, CEO of the UMW Foundation and President, Eagle Property Holdings, LLC.
Construction will begin when demolition of the shopping center north of Giant is complete. The hotel is expected to open by fall 2013. Currently, the Foundation is negotiating the franchise agreement for the hotel brand, which will be announced once the agreement is finalized in early May.
A connector road between Eagle Village and the campus of Mary Washington Healthcare is now under construction and is expected to be completed in January of 2012.
According to Rountree, the new hotel will generate annually more than $90,000 in new real estate taxes and $160,000 in new meals-tax revenues for the City of Fredericksburg. Approximately 55 full-time and 15 new part-time positions will be created.
Cardinal Bank, headquartered in McLean, Va., is handling financing for the hotel project.
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News release prepared by: Marty Morrison
This is what our tuition money is going toward? No wonder the school keep raising it and then complains about how low they are on money to do anything else. Don’t expect me to donate money once I graduate, this school is looking more like a business than a education institution.
Herbie — In reference to your comment, this is a Foundation, not a University, venture. No tuition money is going toward the project.
I’m not overly sure how I feel about the construction of this hotel. I already feel like there isn’t enough tourism or travel into Fredericksburg for the number of hotels already in the Spotsylvania/Stafford/Fredericksburg area. And considering crossing the road to Giant is already dangerous enough for students/pedestrians as well as congestion there during rush hour, diverting more traffic into this area isn’t the wisest choice. I know it will help with jobs, but is there an actual market in hotels currently? I mean creating jobs isn’t going to do a thing for the economy if there isn’t the hotel use to back it up.
I think this is wonderful. I am excited to see how UMW is making this area so nice. I love the fact that there will be a road to Mary Washington Hospital. Often I am at the hospital and want to go to Country Cookin, this will make it very simple to travel without having to go out of the way. The new jobs will be great as well. Thanks UMW for thinking ahead and for improving your community.