JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga.—Plans for the new Jekyll Island Beach Village include the addition of a Hyatt Place hotel to the mixed-use development. Unveiled in 2010, the project includes new hotels, the Jekyll Island Convention Center, a variety of retail shops, restaurants, and park space along a beachfront promenade.
The new Hyatt Place will offer select-service accommodations. Guestrooms at the 135-room hotel will include the Hyatt Grand Bed and Cozy Corner sofa-sleeper. Construction is set to begin in early 2013 and should be completed in approximately 12 months.
It was previously announced that a 200-room Westin Hotel will also be part of the complex.
Together, the new Westin and Hyatt Place hotels will provide 335 new hotel rooms which will help attract more conventions to the island on the Georgia coast. Both new hotels will receive incentives from the Jekyll Island Tourism Development Fund, which was created this year by the Jekyll Island Authority board to stimulate stalled development.
“The effects of the recession have created a difficult lending market for hotel construction,” said Jones Hooks, executive director of the Jekyll Island Authority. “By providing some assistance, we’re ensuring these projects get under way sooner rather than later. We’re taking the reins to accelerate movement on some critical elements of the Beach Village project, which will create new jobs and tax revenues for both the state and local community.”
An economic benefits analysis indicates the two hotels will create a combined 524 construction jobs, with 443 of these in the local community. Construction will generate a one-time economic benefit estimated at $66.5 million, with most of this accruing in the local Glynn County economy.
