Metropolitan State College and Sage Hospitality Group said today they expect to start construction on a new hospitality learning center and 150-room hotel on March 31.
The development includes a 28,000-square-foot learning center; a SpringHill Suites by Mariott branded hotel; and 5,000 square-feet of meeting and conference space.
The development on the Auraria campus is expected to open to students in the fall of 2012. A special-purpose corporation issued bonds for the project last November.
Metro State and Sage have tested the concept at The Curtis, a Downtown hotel that provides 875-square feet of on-site classroom space for students.
“We’ve always believed that interactive and collaborative instruction is the best way to educate hotel professionals,” says Walter Isenberg, president and CEO of Sage Hospitality.
The project will be among only 10 educational facilities in the country combining classrooms with a working hotel, said Metro State President Stephen Jordan.
Metro State has about 500 hospitality majors and expects that number to double after the new facility opens.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
