Jackson Free Press

"Nothing happens if it doesn't go through government," Ben Allen, president of Downtown Jackson Partners, quipped this morning at the groundbreaking for a Westin hotel near the federal courthouse.

To say that was true for the Westin project would be an understatement. Announced in late 2011, the 205-room hotel is a $60-million project that drew public money with the help of government agencies, including the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, Hinds County and the State of Mississippi.

"Downtown is like the heart, and if it's not beating, it will hurt Madison and Rankin (counties)," Joseph Simpson, the 39-year-old front man for the Capital Hotel Associates, the lead developer of the project, said to applause.

The hotel will stand on the site of the vacant Mississippi Valley Title Building on Tombigbee and West streets. House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said he worked as a runner for attorneys in the building, and praised the "tremendous revitalization going on in Jackson."

Birmingham-based Brasfield & Gorrie will be the construction company. Minnesota-based Wischermann Partners will operate the hotel—the first Westin in Mississippi—which will also feature 12,000 square feet of meeting space and a "destination restaurant" that founder Paul Wischermann said would be approachable, not stuffy.

Mayor Tony Yarber joked that he would have to meet with Simpson about the loss of city parking spaces due to the construction of the hotel, which will also affect downtown traffic.

“This kind of an investment in downtown impacts the entire region and helps support our efforts to make Jackson a destination city,” Yarber said today.

Earlier this year, developers cleared a final hurdle when a Hinds County chancery judge ruled against developer Don Hewitt, who argued that public money could not go to private developers.

Officials said the hotel is due to be completed in early 2017.