The Northside Courtyard by Marriott, downtown Akron’s first new hotel in decades, will open about a month later than planned.
Hotel officials now say the 147-room property in the Northside District will open in mid-December.
The opening had been set for Tuesday.
The hotel is owned by local development company Testa Cos. and Concord Hospitality Enterprises of Raleigh, N.C. Concord is the hotel’s manager.
Hotel job openings — including for “operations supervisor” and “night auditor” — were still posted on the Concord website as recently as Friday.
General manager of the Northside Courtyard by Marriott is Garry Kirkland, who has managed other Courtyard by Marriott hotels in Ohio for Concord.
The opening comes more than five years after local developer Joel Testa initially revealed his ambitious plans for a 10-story Northside Courtyard on downtown’s northern edge. Testa is president of Testa Cos., headquartered in Cuyahoga Falls.
From the beginning, Testa has said the hotel, at 41 Furnace St., will give a big boost to downtown redevelopment, particularly the Northside District entertainment and residential area, which includes Testa’s Northside Lofts condominiums.
The Byte Dining group — Testa and well-known Cleveland chef Dante Boccuzzi and partners — plans to open Northside Speakeasy, a small bar with private areas for business and social gatherings, in the hotel’s ground floor. Byte owns the DBA (Dante Boccuzzi Akron) restaurant at the Northside Lofts.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.