It’s a question even Traverse City’s tourism leaders have asked a time or two: Does Traverse City really need more hotels? Regardless of the answer, more hotels are coming – and in significant numbers. The Ticker has your guide to the properties in the development pipeline throughout the Grand Traverse region.

East Bay Township
East Bay Township’s Beach District – the stretch of US-31 between Three Mile and Holiday roads that is already home to more than 20 hotels – has added a couple new ones in recent years, including the Avid Hotel and the Alexandria Inn. At least one new hotel will be joining the family in the next year: a Residence Inn by Marriott that has long been in development on land formerly occupied by Pebble Brook Adventure Park. The Ticker broke the news all the way back in 2018, but the development has been plagued with delays, most due to the pandemic.

Now, Jonathan Azer of Premier Hospitality – the downstate development company behind the project – says things are finally in the home stretch. Now under construction (pictured), the Residence Inn has a six-story design that will eventually add 122 guest rooms to the local inventory. The hotel – which Azer says features “apartment-style rooms with kitchens, complimentary breakfast, a fitness center, guest laundry, an indoor pool, and a rooftop bar and lounge serving custom cocktails and small bites” – is slated to open “in early Q1 of 2025.”

The plan for the development has always been to build a second hotel right next door, and Azer tells The Ticker those plans are still on track. The six-story, 120-room Staybridge Suites with an outdoor pool is set to begin construction “in the next few months” and to open “sometime in 2026.”

Premier Hospitality has also long planned to add a third building to the property: an 8,692-square-foot multi-unit retail/commercial building with a drive-thru. According to Azer, though, the company may scrap that idea and explore the potential for a third hotel on the site instead.

Both the Residence Inn and the Staybridge Suites are intended as “upscale extended-stay hotels,” per Azer.

Several other hotels have been approved for the Beach District stretch in East Bay Township, though none have yet begun construction. The property on US-31 between the Traverse City State Park campground and Hampton Inn has long been a target for hotel developers, and was approved in 2022 for a five-story, 143-room extended-stay Hyatt House. Current plans also include a 1,587-square-foot restaurant, a coffee shop, indoor and outdoor pools, and more. Developer Chris Abbo said in late 2022 that his team was “near completion of our drawings” and was eyeing “a second or third quarter 2023 start” for the project. Nearly two years later, though, the land remains undeveloped.

Abbo tells The Ticker he and his partners went to the township in spring to get a one-year site plan extension, which would give developers until next June to “sit back,” monitor the market, and decide how to proceed. “We still have every intention of doing the project,” Abbo assures, but says his team wants to see how factors like Airbnb and other hotel development impact demand in the Traverse City lodging marketplace.

Just a stone’s throw away from the proposed Hyatt site, East Bay Township in June approved plans from the development team Bacall Group to build a Homewood Suites by Hilton on the southeast corner of the US-31/Three Mile intersection. Bacall Group is planning to demolish a pair of homes on the site to make way for the 131-room hotel.

Also recently approved by East Bay Township: a pair of new 60-room hotels flanking the Tamarack Lodge. That project drew criticism this spring from existing condo owners at the Tamarack. Wuerfel Resorts proposed putting a third of the development’s parking across US-31, off Four Mile Road – something condo owners criticized as inconvenient and dangerous. Wuerfel Resorts ultimately agreed to guarantee 29 parking spots on the water side of US-31 for Tamarack Lodge residents, leaving the satellite lot “for staff and hotel overflow.”

Garfield Township
One of the Grand Traverse region’s newest hotels is the Tru by Hilton, located across the street from Panera in Garfield Township. That hotel opened last spring, bringing 90 new guest rooms to the township. Now, North Michigan Hospitality Management (NMHM), the developer behind the Tru, is in progress on a second hotel right next door: a four-story, 95-room Fairfield Inn & Suites. NMHM President Fritz Heller says it should open yet this year, noting that construction crews are “currently installing furniture, fixtures, and equipment” in pursuit of an early Q4 opening date.

Garfield Township is already home to a Fairfield Inn & Suites, located on North Country Drive next to Sam’s Club and Cracker Barrel. Once the new Fairfield is up and running, Heller says the old one will “go dark” for a period of time “as it transitions to a new brand.” The revamped hotel, a Spark by Hilton, will open “early in Q2 2025.”

City of Traverse City
As The Ticker reported on Sunday, two new hotels are in the works in downtown Traverse City. Jeff Schmitz of J.S. Capitol Group, the developer who built the Hotel Indigo, will break ground Friday on “The Syndicate,” a new 110-room Marriott Tribute hotel he’s been planning for years.

Across the river, on the long-vacant “hole in the ground” lot next to the Traverse City Record-Eagle building, developer Jeff Smoke of Great Lakes Capital is pursuing plans to build a “premium, boutique hotel.” Smoke had previously tried to develop a mixed-use development at the site that would have included both market rate and affordable/workforce housing units. Difficulty securing local and state incentives for the project led Smoke to change course and plan a luxury hotel instead. Details for the project, including number of rooms and hotel branding, are still in the works.

Pictured: Premier Hospitality's renderings for the Staybridge Suites and Residence Inn hotels in East Bay Township.