Developers have deadline to start on Roanoke’s Peabody Hotel, but nothing is happening
A vacant piece of land next to Roanoke’s city hall is supposed to be the site of a new Peabody Hotel, a Memphis landmark famous for the ducks that march through the lobby to swim in the fountain.
The project has been under discussion since 2017, and construction is supposed to start in January, but nothing is happening at the site at the end of Oak Street in downtown Roanoke.
Vicki Rodriquez, Roanoke’s chief financial officer, said the city council gave the Peabody an extension of its contract in September, giving the company a deadline to start construction by January.
The Peabody did not respond to inquiries from the Star-Telegram requesting information about the status of the project.
Roanoke, a growing Denton County community about 22 miles north of Fort Worth, is known as the “Unique Dining Capital of Texas.” Its downtown district is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and city hall, built to look like an historic courthouse, is the focal point for downtown development.
Ongoing delays
Plans for the eight-story Peabody in Roanoke include the tradition of ducks marching to the fountain in the lobby. The groundbreaking was supposed to take place last spring.
Rodriquez said the hotel has been delayed because of COVID’s impact on the hotel industry and the rising cost of construction materials that has significantly increased the project’s cost.
“And most recently, the increase in interest rates has increased the cost of borrowing,” she said.
Roanoke agreed to pay up to $30 million for the conference center and public improvements.
The city council will have to decide if the hotel will get another extension, Rodriquez said.
Council members will get updates regularly so that they can determine “the best course of action” on moving forward with the hotel development, she said.
This story was originally published November 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.