A new AC Marriott Hotel is under construction in downtown Billings at Second Avenue North and North 27th Street, where pedestrians and traffic have been navigating around the ongoing work.
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Co-developer Bill Honaker says the project signals a turning point for the city.
"Downtown in general is on that next cycle of greatness," Honaker said.
The hotel will feature 135 rooms, restaurants, and a bar. The ground floor will include seven stores, a bar, and an eatery called AC Kitchen — described as a breakfast-and-tapas concept. An upstairs restaurant called Vero Tavern is also planned.
"It'll be seven stores on the main floor. There'll be a bar and what they call the AC Kitchen, which is more of kind of a breakfast and then tapas at night at the bar. And then upstairs we have Vero Tavern," Honaker said.
The Billings Downtown Association says the project could bring significant growth to the city. Mehmet Casey, a representative with the association, pointed to both economic and safety benefits.
"So from the demographic standpoint, it brings, you know, potential shoppers. It brings folks that are maybe potentially discovering buildings as a whole for the first time," Casey said.
"From a safety standpoint, it brings a lot more eyes on the street," Casey said.
Honaker echoed the sentiment, framing the hotel as part of a broader push toward progress.
"I think that downtown and the community in general just need to see, you know, progress that we're going the right way, that things are getting better and are going to get better, and so we want to just be a part of that," Honaker said.
The AC Marriott is not the only major construction project reshaping Billings' skyline. The new St. Vincent Regional Hospital is also under construction and is on track to be finished in 2029. A medical supply warehouse connected to the hospital project is set to open later this year, providing nearly 70 job positions.
Casey said the momentum from multiple projects reinforces itself.
"Abundance breeds abundance," Mehmet said.
Honaker said the hotel is projected to open by the end of 2027 or in early 2028.
"End of '27 is kind of what we're projecting, you know, for the first part of '28, end of '27," Honaker said.
