From left: Bloomington RDC members John West, Deb Hutton, Deborah Myerson, and Sue Sgambelluri. Randy Cassady participated via the Zoom video conferencing platform. John Fernandez, vice president of The Mill, is seated to Sgambelluri’s left. (May 20, 2024)

At the table are IU Alluinn’s Charles Whittaker and The Mill’s John Fernandez. Seated in the audience is Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson. Behind Thomson is Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, Jane Kupersmith. (May 20, 2024)

Sometime in the second half of 2026, a new 150-room upscale hotel could be open for guests in Bloomington’s Trades District north of 10th Street, just across from the parking garage.

That’s if all goes according to the plan laid out in a letter of intent (LOI) signed by Alluinn IU Trades District Hotel and Pure Development. The idea is for Alluinn/Pure to construct the hotel, at a cost of $35 million, on land to be purchased for $1.2 million from the city of Bloomington, through its redevelopment commission (RDC).

Approval of the LOI came at Monday’s regular meeting of Bloomington’s RDC on a unanimous vote. RDC member Sue Sgambelluri voted “an enthusiastic yes” and RDC president Deb Hutton gave it “a definite yes.”

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson was on hand to lend her support from the audience. About the proposal, Thomson said, “I think it brings a unique anchor to the Trades District.”

Thomson continued, “My vision of a fully active B-Line corridor that goes from Trades all the way down to Hopewell, that’s alive at every hour of the day.” Thomson added that she thinks the hotel will “magnetize” the Trade District. Continue reading “150-bed hotel deal moves ahead in Bloomington’s Trades District with OK from redevelopment group” →