A new hotel project is moving forward in Atchison, Kansas. The investment group building the hotel announced it has received approval by the Intercontinental Hotels Group to construct a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Atchison.

The City Commission began the initiative to bring a new hotel to town in 2013. Based on a report released in early 2014, an investment group emerged called the Atchison Hospitality Group, LLC.  AHG is owned by nine local primary investors holding a 60% stake, and several others with minority interests.

“While the initial announcement was pretty exciting, there was still a sense of suspense because we weren’t able to announce what brand of hotel we were building at that time” said Bill Michaud, President of AHG in a news release. “Holiday Inn Express is such a great brand and the new design is very impressive. We are very excited to see this project come to life and become a catalyst to increasing activity in Downtown Atchison while supporting the growth of tourism and other economic development in Atchison.”

The facility will be located along Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets. There is currenly a parking lot on the property. Officials say the hotel would be four stories tall. It is slated to include between 66 rooms, an indoor pool, a fitness center, a business center, a small conference room, wi-fi and complimentary hot breakfast.

Michaud says every effort will be made to integrate elements found elsewhere in downtown Atchison to the exterior design of the hotel.

“There will be some balancing between the requirements of the Holiday Inn Express design and what needs to be done for the hotel to complement the downtown area from an overall appearance perspective,” he said.

Construction on the hotel is expected to begin late this summer with an anticipated opening date in late spring of 2017. A spokeswoman for the Atchison City Manager says the final city approval will appear on a consent agenda at the city commission’s next meeting on Monday.