Ballatine To Headline Hotel Indigo

The proposed new Hotel Indigo on Grandview Parkway in downtown Traverse City is beginning to take shape.

"The financing is done, the SBA loans are done, the land is set, and we're approved with the DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality]. We're days or weeks away from asbestos removal and demolition [of the buildings on the site]," Jeff Schmitz, of JS Capitol Construction Inc. tells The Ticker.

Schmitz also shared a revised architect's rendering of the building and announced the hotel's restaurant will be Ballantine, an "American Gastropub & Belgian Bier Bar."

The new rendering shows a clean, modern design with liberal use of glass to provide views of Grand Traverse Bay.

All Hotel Indigos incorporate their own town's architecture, foods, and design schemes. Schmitz's team presented the rendering and their "community plan" to Hotel Indigo's parent company, UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group, last week. A green light to move ahead was granted.

Ballantine will be a "fusion of a steakhouse, stone-oven pizza place, beer bar, & eccentric cocktail lounge." The eatery will incorporate local beers, wines, baked goods, and coffee. The first Ballantine is located near Cleveland and plans are underway to open a location in downtown Royal Oak. Fabio Salerno, who has owned several restaurants and clubs in Cleveland and currently oversees some 25 restaurants for the Cleveland Restaurant Group, will serve as Executive Chef at Ballantine Traverse City.

Hotel Indigo Traverse City will be a four-story, 105-room boutique hotel with 85 underground parking spaces. It is estimated to cost $14 million and will take advantage of approximately $1 million in credits from Grand Traverse County’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Rochester Hills-based JS Capitol will serve as general contractor for the hotel. Schmitz says hotel construction would be finished in 12 to 13 months.