MANKATO — One of the biggest private developments in downtown Mankato history is in a winter hibernation, but work on the two-hotel development along Main Street will resume in the spring, developers say.
“This project represents two contracts with the first being seen throughout most of 2025 as demolition occurred,” said Bryan Sowers in a written response to Free Press questions about the status of the project. “The second contract will be the start of construction in the spring of 2026 aligned with final design approval from Marriott.”
A tentative original timeline would have completed demolition of the old Holiday Inn/City Center Hotel and the nearby Landmark Building, along with other site work, by the end of May. Under that scenario, construction of the 10-story AC by Marriott Hotel at Main and Second Streets and the attached four-story Element by Westin at Main and Riverfront Drive would have commenced in June and been completed in December of 2026.
That’s no longer feasible after cold weather set in before earth-retention work and concrete footings could be completed, according to Sowers, the chairman of the board of governors representing the multiple investors and developers involved in the project. About 10% of the demolition and site work, which includes environmental clean-up and measures to keep adjacent streets stabilized, remains to be completed.
Final designs are also being refined.
“Marriott has approved most of the proposed design with the final approval anticipated in January to February 2026 based on an approximate $100 million project cost,” Sowers said, later emphasizing the ongoing resolve to construct a top-quality hotel. “It is the development group’s commitment to maintaining the unique design without sacrificing quality, customer experience or the project vision. This is where the strength of design and construction partnerships has shown through as we are collectively solving for a unique project that is representative of the character, culture and values of Greater Mankato.”
The opening of the two hotels — featuring 126 guest rooms in the Element by Westin and 156 in the AC by Marriott, along with an indoor/outdoor restaurant atop the Marriott — is now expected to occur in the third quarter of 2027.
The people behind Hotel Mankato LLC include many of the most prominent developers in the area such as Tony Frentz and Rob Else of Neubau Holdings, ISG principal Chad Surprenant, Tailwind Group, Sowers and Landmark Real Estate’s Jon Kietzer. The group has grown to more than 20 investors and more than a dozen local trade contractors, according to Sowers.
And the hotel project is only part of what the partnership is planning for downtown Mankato.
“This development is set to transform the economic and cultural landscape as a catalytic project in the city center of Greater Mankato,” according to the board’s statement.
What that will mean specifically is to be revealed in more detail early next year, Sowers said, hinting that it includes redevelopment of other downtown sites such as the historic post office, the vacant Walgreens parcel and other underused properties.
“More to come as we invite community advocates and stakeholders to join us in this coordinated and impactful plan,” he said.
The effort will build upon what the group sees as the first phase of downtown revitalization that came with the civic center expansion and growth in commercial office space.
“The second phase over the next decade will hope to achieve enhanced walkability, livability and vitality, while creating a social nexus for the region,” according to the group, which aims to advance major components of the “Transforming Tomorrow Together” regional long-range plan completed last year by Greater Mankato Growth. “It is a well-thought strategy to engage and partner with various developers and owners of multiple property sites in the city center working on a coordinated second phase.”
Developments will be focused on hospitality, multi-family housing, improvements to public spaces and and fill-in retail and office space projects.