| JW Marriott Hotel Project Receives First Glass Panels |
 March 27 marked the beginning of what will become the most unique aspect of the JW Marriott Indianapolis tower – the glass curtain wall.Once completed, the tower will feature 7,300 glass panels covering the 34 floors of the complex. With each panel weighing roughly 800 pound and measuring four feet by ten feet, the installation is no small task. Whitestown-based ASI Limited is providing the blue glass panels for the project with Hunt Construction Group as the construction manager. The project is roughly 20 percent complete, and upon opening in early 2011, will become the state’s largest hotel. “Truly one of a kind, it will dramatically change the downtown Indianapolis skyline,” said Jeremy Stephenson, vice president of development with REI Investments. The $450 million Marriott Place Indianapolis will feature 1,626 rooms between the JW Marriott Indianapolis, Indianapolis Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Indianapolis Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Downtown and the Indianapolis SpringHill Suites by Marriott Downtown. The hotel complex will serve as the premier convention headquarters hotel in Indianapolis with 104,000 square feet of meeting, banquet and exhibit space and one of Marriott’s largest hotel ballrooms in the world totaling 40,500 square feet. The landmark hotel development will serve as an anchor for central Indiana’s convention and tourism industry. The hotel project is located on a seven-acre site overlooking the White River State Park and the location will allow guests to easily walk to numerous thriving parts of downtown. The opening of the Courtyard Marriott, Fairfield Inn & Suites, SpringHill Suites and T.G.I. Friday’s is March 2010. The JW Marriott Indianapolis will open in February 2011. |