A lodging company is seeking approval for an eight-story Drury Plaza Hotel on the downtown Chattanooga site that for decades held the Sportsbarn fitness club.
At eight levels, the hotel proposed for Third and Market streets would rise one higher than envisioned for the Embassy Suites going up nearby at Broad and Fourth streets.
Also, according to renderings of the proposed hotel submitted to a Chattanooga zoning panel, the Drury’s 196 rooms would be 12 more than planned for the Embassy Suites.
A Drury Hotels representative declined to respond to questions about the proposed downtown structure prior to a meeting Thursday of the zoning panel where the company is seeking several variances.
Late last year, Drury opened its first Chattanooga hotel on Shallowford Road near Hamilton Place mall.
(READ MORE: Drury Hotels enters Chattanooga market)
That eight-story, 210-room hotel was built after the lodging brand was attracted by the city’s growth, Cassandra Osborne, its general manager, said in an earlier interview.
She said the hotel expected to woo leisure travelers from nearby Interstate 75 and business traffic due to the location’s closeness to Chattanooga Airport.
Osborne said the Missouri-based company’s guest services and employees separate it from other hotels.
“We take care of people first,” she said about the hotel.
In 2023, Drury Hotels purchased the 301 Market St. site where the Sportsbarn had operated in addition to a parking garage across Market.
A company official said then Drury was exploring its next steps for the tract.
“Chattanooga has so much appeal to visitors, and this location is close to key points of interest like the Tennessee Aquarium, local restaurants, the Creative Discovery Museum, the riverfront and much more,” Charles Drury III, the company’s director of development, said in a statement.
Drury said the recent addition of the Steam Logistics headquarters on the opposite side of the block at Market and Fourth streets “changed the whole feel of Market Street, and we want to be part of this direction. We’re excited about the possibilities.”
Drury Hotels is a private, family-owned and operated company, and 2o23 marked its 50th year. It operates more than 150 hotels in 26 states.
David Brock, the then-Sportsbarn’s president, said Drury is “a really good addition” for downtown. He said at the time that Drury will improve a part of the central city that’s already appealing to travelers.
(READ MORE: Drury Hotels buys Sportsbarn site)
The Sportsbarn had operated at the corner of Market and Third streets since 1979. The club was founded by a group led by the late Alex Guerry, who was chief executive of over-the-counter medicine manufacturer Chattem in Chattanooga.
Brock said the real estate downtown is valuable and the buyers recognized that fact.
“The real estate is worth more than the business,” he said.
Brock said that section of downtown had changed through the years as more tourists gravitate to the riverfront district.
“Tourists and business travelers are walking around,” he said. “It has changed from what it was.”
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / The former downtown Sportsbarn site at Market and Third streets in Chattanooga is shown in 2023. A Drury Plaza Hotel is planned for the tract.