Hospitality & Tourism  January 31, 2024

Moxy Hotel near University of Colorado set for Q2 open

BOULDER — A Moxy-branded hotel from Marriott International Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR) in Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood adjacent to the University of Colorado campus is expected to open in the second quarter of 2024. 

The 189-room hotel at 1253 Pleasant St. will feature 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 5,300 square feet of indoor and outdoor events space, bar and lounge areas and a publicly accessible courtyard, according to Vision Hospitality Group, the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company contracted to manage the property. 

“The Moxy Hotel is poised to be a beacon of creativity and style, reflecting Vision’s commitment to excellence in every facet of hospitality,” Vision CEO Mitch Patel said in a prepared statement. 

Denver-based The Nichols Partnership Inc., with funding from BMC Investments, is the Moxy Hotel’s developer.

“This project is an excellent example of our strategy to target A+ locations, with high barriers to entry and quantifiable demand generators,” Nichols CEO Randy Nichols said in a statement.

Moxy Hotels are part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Distinctive Select portfolio. There is a Moxy-branded hotel in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. 

The Nichols hotel development has been in the works for the better part of the last decade and is one of several major hospitality projects near the CU campus on the verge of coming online in the near future. Boulder business and economic leaders have for years argued that new lodging and events spaces are key to long-term revitalization efforts in the University Hill district.

Limelight Hotel Boulder broke ground in early 2023 nearby along the 1400 block of Broadway.

That project, which is being developed by Aspen Skiing Co.’s Aspen Hospitality division (formerly known as Little Nell Hotel Group) in partnership with CU, will feature 250 rooms and contain 25,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom. It is expected to cost about $130 million to develop.

Combined, the hotel projects create “new synergies in an ongoing revitalization of the University Hill business district,” CU said last year when the university announced the Broadway hotel will be a Limelight property. 

CU has long sought to increase the availability of accommodations near campus, a mission made more critical by the potential redevelopment of the Millennium Harvest House Hotel into student housing.

Landmark Properties Inc., a Georgia-based builder specializing in student housing, intends to replace the aging Millennium Harvest House hotel adjacent to the CU campus at 1345 28th St. with three 4-story buildings containing 303 student-housing rental apartments — a mix of studio, one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom units. The complex would have a total of 944 bedrooms.

A Moxy-branded hotel from Marriott International Inc. in Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood adjacent to the University of Colorado campus is expected to open in the second quarter of 2024. 

Lucas High
A Maryland native, Lucas has worked at news agencies from Wyoming to South Carolina before putting roots down in Colorado.
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