Hampton Inn breaks ground in Eastgate

DANVILLE — Hilton Honors members will not have to wait long now to accumulate or use points in the Danville area.

Sunrise Hospitality, Inc. broke ground Wednesday at its site on Eastgate Drive to construct a 74-unit Hampton Inn & Suites.The company is investing approximately $5 million on the facility.

Nearly 30 percent of the rooms will be complete studio suites with all the amenities a business traveler might want. The hotel also will feature a pool and meeting space.

Sunrise Hospitality, Inc., an Ohio-based corporation, will own, develop and operate the Danville area’s newest hotel. The company owns and manages an extensive portfolio of brand hotel and motel properties across the Midwest, including the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 310 Eastgate Drive.

The Hampton Inn is expected to open by spring 2008 and will employ 15 full-time and part-time employees.Danville Area Convention & Visitors’ Bureau Executive Director Jeanie Cooke sees this development as important to the continued growth of tourism in Vermilion County.

“We’ve been sending people out of town during major events such as the NJCAA, the Harley event starting (Wednesday), etc. With this development, we’ll be able to capture more business directly in Vermilion County,” Cooke said.

According to Vicki Haugen, president and CEO of Vermilion Advantage, the project has many positive economic factors.

“The first decision to invest in our area by an investor is always great, but to have continued investment is a loud and visible statement of the success realized by that investment. It’s the best advertisement for future investment the area can have,” she said.

Sunrise hopes to lure a restaurant to locate on the 1.4-acre frontage lot located east of the Hampton Inn and south of the Holiday Inn Express.

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