Work on Greeley Residence Inn on hold

GREELEY — A planned hotel at the site of one of Greeley’s former movie theaters has so far thwarted development. But the owners of the proposed inn on the 4-acre site say they will get it done.

Since the Carmike Theater was demolished in 2015, two different owners have attempted to build a Residence Inn hotel at the site at 2495 28th St. The first ownership group, Texas-based Insignia Hospitality Group, bought the property for $1.1 million, but nothing ever happened. They sold it to Galaxy Hotel Group in 2021 for $2.2 million. In its building permit, the group paid almost $1.2 million in permit fees on the $17.8 million project. Finally, what appeared to be a hotel started coming out of the ground last year.

Today, however, the wooden L-shaped frame of the massive 109-room hotel is left to withstand the elements, as all activity has stopped amid more than $2 million in liens now filed on the property for unpaid construction bills.

The property is owned by D Greeley LLC, which is an offshoot of Galaxy Hotels, based in Frisco, Texas. The company has hotels throughout Colorado, Arizona, California and Nevada, including Marriotts and Hiltons.

Larry Williams, senior owners’ representative for Galaxy, said the Greeley project is on hold for the next 45 to 60 days while the group pays the liens that have been filed.

“We were experiencing some major cost overruns,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, throughout the month of June, more than $2 million in liens were filed on the property. Those are:

• $284,778 by Jr. and Sr. Construction LLC.
• $199,948 by Liquid Structures Inc.
• $127,608 by Anytime Mechanical LLC.
• $111,275 by Veltri Steel LLC.
• $1,358,416 by Builders Warehouse Inc.
• $195,467 by Accurate Builders Inc.
• $132,000 by Phoenix Masonry Inc.

Williams said his group is working through the liens, and promised they will be paid.

“Those are all being handled, and they will all be settled,” Williams said. “We are very committed to the subcontractors. And we are very dedicated to the project.”

Williams added that some stormwater and landscape issues also need to be addressed during this period of inactivity. Altogether, he said, the project timeline will be pushed out about 11 months.

“We’re committed to finishing,” Williams said. “We just have to sort through a few things.”

While a wooden frame is up, it also will be withstanding the elements during that time, which has the potential to ruin the wood.

“We plan to aggressively move to get the building closed in and get a roof,” Williams said. “Then we can start proceeding with the internal work.

“While we’re doing this we’re keeping the city involved, so we are making sure to maintain the site,” he said. “We don’t want it to be an eyesore.”

*This story has been changed to reflect the correct project value of $17.8 million; and a source error to report that the general contractor will remain on the job. BizWest regrets the error.