LEXINGTON — Crews have started prep work for a four-story downtown Marriott hotel that will include a terrace overlooking Main Street.
The project at 116 E. Main St. will be part of the midscale Courtyard by Marriott brand from the Maryland-based hotel giant. Builders expect it to be finished by spring 2027.
“Bringing Courtyard by Marriott here is a natural next step that honors our hospitality journey while creating a space that reflects the town’s welcoming spirit and commitment to quality,” said Raj Champaneri, chief operations officer of Lexington Hospitality, the developer of the hotel and projects including the Holiday Inn and Aloft Hotel in downtown Columbia and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Lexington.
The hotel will include 111 guest rooms as well as meeting and event spaces. A bistro will serve meals, along with Starbucks coffee and cocktails. Small workspace units developers call “media pods” will also be part of the hotel, giving guests a place to plug in laptops and work.
Plans for the hotel have been underway for years, with town officials striking down an earlier design at a council meeting last year over its size and modern look.
In an announcement after the Sept. 30 ceremony, Mashburn Construction, the project’s builder, touted the hotel’s brick design, saying it will align with downtown Lexington’s historic buildings.
Mashburn spokesperson Lindsey Yarborough told The Post and Courier that crews are clearing the land and demolishing parts of the site to level it for the project’s foundation.
“This is a downtown site. So anytime we are working in a downtown environment, things can be very tight and we have to be very thoughtful about any sort of activity,” Yarborough said. “We also have to be thoughtful about the hours of work as to not disrupt the regular happenings of downtown and be accommodating to any external events that are going on.”