The Mariott Autograph Collection Trilogy hotel across from the Von Braun Center is expected to be completed by late summer.

The Huntsville Downtown Redevelopment Authority extended the deadline for the project on Monroe Street to Aug. 31 at its meeting on Feb. 12. Members of the authority were told the Starbucks in the hotel would receive its certificate of occupancy soon.

The developers told the authority they were working hard to complete the hotel. They said a change in its design was the cause of the delay.

The construction of the hotel on Monroe Street had also been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project grew during the delay.

See story: Construction starts on downtown Huntsville hotel, now larger than first planned – al.com

The hotel is at the southwest corner of the reconstructed parking garage on Monroe Street across from the Von Braun Center’s Propst Arena. The hotel, originally approved by the city council in March 2019, planned to have six floors and 187 rooms.

It now has eight floors and more than 200 rooms.

The $40 million project will have a rooftop bar overlooking Big Spring Park as well as two full-service restaurants and conference/banquet space. The Starbucks is one of the largest in Alabama,

See story: Alabama’s largest Starbucks coming to Huntsville Autograph Collection Hotel – al.com

Ascent Hospitality of Buford, Ga., is the project developer. The city council in 2020 sold 0.734 acres to the developers at a cost of $1.6 million. The land was formerly included in the original parking garage.

The Autograph is the latest in a hotel growth spurt in the downtown district while developers have announced plans for two more hotels at other nearby projects. Three hotels have opened downtown since March 2019 – AC Hotel by Marriott on Williams Street, Jefferson 106 (a Curio by Hilton brand) on Jefferson Street and Hampton Inn at Monroe Street and Clinton Avenue.

Future plans include a hotel as part of the Front Row development across from the VBC at the corner of Monroe and Clinton Avenue. Currently under construction at the former Coca Cola plant site is a mixed-use apartment community that will include retail and apartments.

And a Moxy hotel adjacent to the AC Hotel is being built in the third phase of CityCentre.

City officials have worked for years to boost downtown Huntsville’s inventory of hotel rooms to accommodate larger conferences at the Von Braun Center.

The rebuilt parking garage, which wraps around parts of the Autograph hotel, included plans for guest parking at the hotel and the Hampton Inn on the northern side.