A new hotel, Hotel Indigo, has officially broken ground in downtown Tuscaloosa, officials from Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Chance Partners announced today.

The hotel will join the Riverfront Village that runs along Tuscaloosa’s Black Warrior River. The property will not only be Tuscaloosa’s first riverfront hotel, but also the city’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified hotel and the first Hotel Indigo in the state of Alabama. 

“Downtown Tuscaloosa and our riverfront are emerging beyond what we envisioned 10 years ago when I took office and we dreamed big,” said Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox.

The hotel is set to open in winter of 2016 and will have around 90 rooms, in addition to a fitness center, meeting space and a 2,500 square foot outdoor space overlooking the Black Warrior River and Tuscaloosa Amphitheater.

Every hotel room will contain a touch-screen neighborhood guide that will allow guests to connect with each other and provide information on ways to experience the city of Tuscaloosa.

Hotel Indigo is designed to reflect the culture and surrounding neighborhood of each of its locations.

“We are delighted to bring the Hotel Indigo brand to Tuscaloosa,” said Joel Elsemann, Chief Development Officer at IHG. “We look forward to the opening of the Hotel Indigo in Tuscaloosa and welcoming guests to this great neighborhood.”

Judd Bobilin, CEO of Chance Partners and developer of Riverfront Village and Hotel Indigo Downtown Tuscaloosa, is optimistic about what the hotel will bring to the city.

“I think it helps stretch downtown to the river,” Bobilin said. “It activates the Tuscaloosa interchange with the amphitheater, hotel and our project. It will be a great economic boost to the city.”

Bobilin also described the neighborhood and local aspects of the hotel.

“We welcome the local community vendors, and the hotel itself is very much locally based,” Bobilin said. “The food, materials and collateral will start being sourced locally, then regionally, then out from there.”

While the addition of the hotel is expected to bring new visitors to Tuscaloosa, it is also meant to compliment the already blooming Riverfront Village community. Riverfront Village is less than one mile away from the University of Alabama and is home to 192 luxury apartments and a pedestrian friendly environment.

Rebecca Brown, a freshman majoring in Creative Writing, is encouraged by the prospect of new lodging resources coming to Tuscaloosa.

“I’ve only been here like a month, and it does seem like the campus is growing a lot right now, and it seems like there needs to be more infrastructure to support that. So I would hope that it helps,” Brown said.

The Hotel Indigo will be located at 120 Greensboro Avenue and is expected to open in winter of next year.