GRAND RAPIDS - The city's downtown will soon get an impressive addition to its skyline, in the form of a 24-story, 340-room hotel. The hotel will have the Marriott label and will welcome its first guests in the fall of 2007.

Hotel owner Alticor unveiled the design of the high-rise hotel on Jan. 31.

"Today is another big day," said Alticor chairman Steve Van Andel. "The design unveiling of the new Marriott is the latest chapter in the continuing revitalization of downtown Grand Rapids. We are introducing a modern and sophisticated structure that will grace our skyline for decades to come."

The hotel will be located along the Grand River at the southwest corner of Pearl Street and Campau Avenue. An adjacent 700-space parking ramp will be located just south of Louis Street. The hotel's design includes a ballroom that will comfortably seat a thousand
guests - one of the largest in the region. The design features also include a restaurant, lounge, indoor pool and fitness facility.

Each of the guest rooms will have a panoramic view, thanks to the curvature of the tower that gives it a football-like shape from above.

The hotel is being built in a joint venture between Rockford Construction Company, Inc.
of Belmont, Mich., and Pepper Construction Group of Chicago. Construction is expected to begin this summer. A price tag for the hotel was not released.

Alticor - the parent company of Amway - also owns and operates the nearby Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

The new hotel will be located between the city's two tallest structures, the 32-story Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the 34-story Plaza Towers building. A skywalk system will link nearby hotels to the city's new DeVos Place Convention Center.

THE NEW 24-STORY hotel will be built along the Grand River in Grand Rapids, as shown in this rendering.