Davenport hotel, retail projects move forward

Construction on a hotel and retail development on Elmore Avenue should start by the end of the year, while another motel is being planned for northeast Davenport near Trinity Bettendorf.

Several letters of intent have been received and three leases are in various phases of completion for retailers for what is expected to be about 85,000 square feet of space in the Elmore Avenue project, Heart of America Group president Mike Whalen said Tuesday. A lead tenant has committed.

There just arent many new construction projects being built in retail across the country, so I am pretty excited about it, Whalen said. We want to be able to start construction this year, so we are putting pressure on folks to move faster than they usually do in the retail arena.

He declined to identify any of the retailers his company is in talks with.

I believe it wont be in the too distant future we can say heres who, Whalen said.

Along with the retail space, the $28 million project also includes a hotel with 100 to 120 rooms.

Last week, Davenports plan and zone commission approved the development plan for a four-story, 102-room extended-stay motel on 3.81 acres at the intersection of Market Square Circle and Progress Drive, located west of Utica Ridge Road between Rave Cinemas and the Trinity Bettendorf hospital.

The project is expected to go in front of the Davenport City Council late next month.

The cost of the motel project was unavailable Tuesday. Jeff Lamont of Davenport Lodging Group, Aberdeen, S.D., who submitted the development plan, couldnt be reached for further comment about the project.

Lamonts development group hasnt submitted any requests to the city for financial assistance.

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Davenport hotel, retail projects move forward