In May, 2014, Westerville bought almost all of the Altair business park, but has just announced what it plans to do with the space.
The 62-acre parcel will become a mixed-use project known as ‘Westar Place’, with a Marriott Renaissance hotel and its accompanying conference center as the centerpiece.
David Collinsworth, Westerville's city manager, said the development is important to the strategic vision the city has for its future, since it fills a void that has existed for a long time—support for Westerville's business community. Collinsworth believes a full-service hotel like the Marriott Renaissance will be of great value to the business sector, since it offers needed amenities to local businesspeople and visitors alike.
The new hotel, which will be an eight-story building, will feature 224 guest rooms, and convention and meeting space totaling almost 20,000 square feet. Some retail space is also planned for Westar Place, as are additional office buildings. The entire project might add as many as 3,000 jobs to the local economy.
Collinsworth added that the new project will really help the city attract national and regional headquarters, since those are the types of concerns that typically need overnight lodging for business reasons. The Renaissance will be the first upscale hotel in Westerville.
Westerville officials could work with brochure printers to create a booklet about the new project, to be distributed to businesses nationwide.
