Westin Grand Bohemian
The Grand Bohemian Hotel is a planned 100-room full-service luxury hotel, part of a chain operated by the Orlando-based Kessler Collection, which is to be constructed in the Lane Parke development in Mountain Brook Village.
In April 2004, Kessler proposed a Westin Grand Bohemian on the site of the Birmingham Board of Education Building at the northeast corner of 20th Street and Park Place across the street from Linn Park. Originally proposed as a 14-story, 250 room hotel, Kessler announced the following October that they were ready to invest $50 million to construct a 14-story hotel with approximately 200 rooms on the site. The project would have included at least one restaurant, a lounge, large ballroom, exercise facility and commercial and retail space. The design would have been modeled after the Westin Grand Bohemian in Orlando.
The project ultimately stalled and subsequently was canceled after the Birmingham Board of Education decided to not sell the property for the proposed development.
In 2012, Kessler agreed to operate a 100-room Grand Bohemian hotel in the Lane Parke development in Mountain Brook Village. Alabama Power Company CEO Charles McCrary spearheaded efforts to convince Kessler to move forward in the area. The $130 million project is expected to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015.
References
- Tomberlin, Michael and Barnett Wright. (April 27, 2004) "Hotel chain eyes Linn Park location." The Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael. (October 9, 2004) "High-end downtown hotel planned." The Birmingham News
- Leech, Marie and Joseph D. Bryant. (December 8, 2007) "Mayor wants schools office leveled." The Birmingham News
- Poe, Ryan (October 4, 2013) "How the Grand Bohemian Hotel ended up in Lane Parke." The Birmingham News