Aug. 24–MADISON VILLAGE — Construction on a new 81-room hotel at 181 Water Tower Drive in Madison Village will begin today.

A groundbreaking and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Holiday Inn Express and Suites is set for 11 a.m. today at the construction site near Interstate 90.

"The project represents a $10.2 million investment in the growing travel and tourism industry of Lake County," said Madison Village Administrator Dwayne Bailey. "The hotel will not only be convenient for the traditional I-90 traveler, it will be located within 10 miles of over 20 wineries and a distillery."

He also said it will also be a source of accommodations for the growing number of events at Spire Institute, located just 6.4 miles away. Spire Institute athletic events have generated demand for hotel rooms as far away as Beachwood, Bailey said.

Madison Real Estate Partners, owner and developer, will be building the new hotel. The general contractor for the job will be Pride One Construction of Medina. Pride One Construction has been involved in numerous Holiday Inn Express and Suites Hotel construction jobs before.

Samir Gandhi, spokesperson for Madison Real Estate Partners, said the hotel would be a valuable asset to both the village and Lake County tourism. He said the hotel will be built on a two-acre tract of the four-acre property owned by Madison Real Estate Partners. The other two acres will be kept as wetlands, he said.

"Pride One Contractors was chosen because it is well versed in hotel construction and the hospitality business, especially Holiday Inns. The price was right, the contractor was more local and it had experience building hotels," Gandhi said.

Madison Real Estate Partners started working on the project with Bailey more than three years ago.

"We should begin construction of the hotel within the next week or so," he said. "It should be completed by August of 2018."

Gandhi said he and his partners felt there was definitely a need for the hotel there because of the growth of tourism and wineries in western Ashtabula and eastern Lake counties.

Bailey said the village has desired a hotel at the I-90 interchange for many years.

"Mayor (Sam) Britton, village council and the school board have been extremely supportive of this project," he said. "At Monday night's council meeting everyone was very excited to get this project going."

Council President Ken Takacs said when all the numbers are together and all the considerations are in, the new hotel should be beneficial the tourism economies.

"A recent ODOT study showed that some 29,000 cars (on I-90) pass the I-90 and Route 528 intersection every day," he said. "That is a large traffic flow and many of those travelers will need accommodations. We may even see another hotel in the same area in the not too distant future. You put those factors together and figure in the hotel/bed tax it would guarantee the village, and it shows the new hotel is a wise investment."

He said the average hotel or motel room cost is about $100 per night. He said even with an occupancy of only 70 percent per day with the village's 3 percent bed tax it could add up to quite a chunk.

"It's obvious this could have quite a positive economic effect on the area," he said. "People coming to the area's wineries need accommodations."

Britton said he was excited about the project and "could hardly wait for Pride One to start laying block."

"It's great this is finally coming to fruition," he said. "Dwayne and Samir put a lot of effort into bringing this all about. The village will help Madison Real Estate Partners and Pride One in any way they can. I think it's going to be an awesome asset for the village."