POWELL, Ohio — An Ohio Zoo is hoping to offer visitors more than a day trip as it searches for a developer to build an upscale hotel on its property.
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The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium proposed a hotel that would feature animal-themed rooms, balconies overlooking the zoo, and an indoor pool and waterslide, our news partners WBNS-10 TV reported.
If plans move forward, the 130-room property would be built in a corner of the zoo’s parking lot near Zoombezi Bay Water Park and could open within four years.
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A zoo spokesperson told WBNS-10 TV the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is looking to identify the right development partner to build a signature hotel experience on the zoo’s property as part of their long-term vision for the future of the zoo.
The project would be privately funded by the developer.
According to the zoo’s public request for qualifications obtained by WBNS-10 TV, the hotel is estimated to cost between $32 million and $45 million and would be designed to fit the zoo’s brand and mission.
The deadline for developers to submit their qualifications is Friday.
Once a developer is selected, a spokesperson told WBNS-10 TV that planning, design, and construction would take three to three and a half years before the hotel opens.
Business owners in the area say a nearby hotel would be a boost for the surrounding community.
Laura Coleman opened Dolce Vita Baby Boutique in Shawnee Hills three years ago and sees the potential hotel as an opportunity to draw more customers to the area.
“That would be larger than life for us to have people that are coming to the zoo to come to this plaza, to come to this store,” Coleman said.
Her boutique is already growing, though she says there is room for more.
“We could always be bigger,” Coleman said.
Two doors down, Gabrielle Avesian, director of marketing at Hydrate Me IC hydration med spa, told WBNS-10 TV a hotel would drive more foot traffic to nearby businesses.
“Because the closest thing is going to be Bridge Park, and this really just brings you back a little bit,” Avesian said.
Powell Economic Development Administrator Sean Hughes said the city currently loses a significant share of overnight visitors to neighboring areas with existing hotel options.
“We have about 95,000 stays happening in the market, overnight stays. We’re losing all those to Dublin, Polaris, and other areas that have hotels,” Hughes said. “So, having those additional people staying here that are already possibly visiting the zoo, spending more money, is going to be good for our businesses.”
Coleman echoed that sentiment.
“Are we going to go under without it? I don’t think so. But I would love it if people had a reason to come here and stay here and come see our little village,” Coleman said.
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