A joint venture between Urgo Hotels & Resorts and Ensemble Hotel Partners announced the ground breaking of a 10-story, 159-room, full-service Marriott Hotel in downtown Ithaca, New York. Scheduled to open in Q3 of 2016, the hotel will be located at the eastern entrance to the Ithaca Commons, a newly renovated pedestrian indoor and outdoor mixed-use development and entertainment district anchoring Ithaca’s downtown core.

The Ithaca Marriott will be the only Marriott-branded hotel in the area and the first new hotel in the center of Ithaca in almost 10 years.

“We saw an opportunity to provide a much needed amenity with high quality jobs in the Ithaca market,” said Mathew Jalazo, director of development at Urgo Hotels. “This project is attractive from several vantage points, chief among them being the superior downtown location and the opportunity to be one of two branded hotels and the only Marriott in the heart of Ithaca. Market positioning, proximity to City Hall, Cornell University and Ithaca College, coupled with the Marriott brand’s reservations systems, distribution channels and rewards program, its superior facilities and amenities, all give us tremendous confidence in this project.

“Given that the Ithaca Marriott is at the doorstep of Cornell University, one of the nation’s most prestigious hospitality schools, we placed special emphasis on the architectural and interior design elements,” said Jalazo. “We wanted a hotel that would reflect the local character of this charming town and complement the downtown businesses that make the Commons the center of community life in Ithaca.”

The 159-room, full-service Marriott hotel features a 10-story design on 8,430 square feet of land with a state-of-the-art fitness center and signature restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating on the main level. The hotel will have approximately 3,000 square feet of meeting/function space with floor to ceiling windows, a prep area, and guestrooms on the second level and floors three through 10.

Cooper Carry of Atlanta, Ga., are the project’s architects. Design Continuum is the interior design firm. W.H. Lane of Binghamton, N.Y., is the general contractor. Rimland Development contributed the land to the joint venture and is a partner.

About Urgo Hotels & Resorts

Urgo Hotels & Resorts is a Bethesda, Md.-based hotel company that develops, owns and/or operates distinctive and unique hotels and resorts in major US markets and resorts in Canada and the Caribbean. The current portfolio is comprised of 32 hotels with more than 4,500 rooms including four under construction and an active pipeline of acquisition and development projects. The company develops, builds, and operates for its own account, as well as provides third-party management and asset management services. Additional information about the company may be found at www.urgohotels.com.