Duluth Hotel Awaits County OK

Gwinnett County is about to get a real economic boost if a developer's proposal to build a multimillion dollar hotel is approved by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

Nilhan Hospitality, located in Peachtree Corners, was one of four companies that submitted bids for a cenvention center hotel. On Wednesday the 's Board of Directors selected the firm to build a $57-million Marriott Hotel that will connect to the Gwinnett Center in unincorporated Duluth.

"Nilhan Hospitality was actually planning on building a Marriott Hotel nearby," said Lisa Anders, GCVB's executive director, "and had already been approved for a Marriott franchise."

Anders said Nilhan's proposal would be completely privately financed and require no bonds or county money. "The developer is ready and fully financed," said Anders. "It's a huge economic development for the county. It's amazing in today's economy to find a developer with private funding."

The proposed convention center hotel would allow Gwinnett County to be more competitive in its ability to bring larger conventions to the area. Cobb County, its closest competitor, already has a convention center hotel.

The hotel would be built on a two-acre site that would take in part of the current parking lot in front of the Gwinnett Center and would be directly connected so hotel guests would walk from the hotel lobby to the center's lobby.

The expected revenue on the property and hotel-motel tax alone is expected to be $65 million.

Concord Hospitality, which operates over 80 hotels throughout the U.S and Canada, will manage the new Gwinnett Center Marriott.

If the Gwinnett County Commission approves the project, "we'll move forward with negotiations," said Anders.

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