COLUMBUS, Ohio
First Hospitality Group, Inc. (FHG) announced that, through a joint venture partnership with Robert J. Meyers and Don M. Castro, it will be converting the historic LeVeque Tower building in Columbus, Ohio, to an Autograph Collection hotel scheduled to open in early 2015.
The 47-story, 155 guest room hotel will be FHG’s first Autograph Collection property. A boutique Marriott brand, Autograph Collection hotels are each said to be "distinctively unique and known for quality, bold originality, rich character and uncommon details."
The 155.5-foot, art deco LeVeque Tower, was the tallest building between New York and Chicago when constructed in 1927 (then known as the American Insurance Union), and remained the tallest in Columbus until 1974 when the Rhodes State Office Tower was built.
FHG has completed several other adaptive reuse hotel conversion projects in the Midwest, including the Loyalty building in downtown Milwaukee, Wisc., now a Hilton Garden Inn; the Liberty Building in Des Moines, Iowa, now a Hyatt Pace; and the Federal Building in Omaha, Neb., now a Residence Inn by Marriott.
FHG continues to manage all of these properties as a part of its 62-hotel national portfolio. Bob Meyers and Don Castro have partnered together on several other Columbus properties including the NiSource Building, 250 Civic Center and 200 Civic Center.
