Eofficial Enterprises and the city of Odessa, TX targeted March 2017 for groundbreaking on a $77 million downtown hotel and conference center. Eofficial Enterprises is building the 200-key Marriott-branded facility at a $40 million cost. Aimbridge Hospitality will run both the hotel and conference center, which are targeted for an early 2019 opening.

Eofficial is finishing the design for the hotel, and expects to be completed in January. Sondra Eoff of Eofficial Enterprises told the Odessa American that Marriott has specific guidelines concerning room sizes and design, and that the developer will submit the designs to Marriott Inc. by Dec. 20.

The city is investing close to $31 million in the project, which will anchor a downtown redevelopment. As such, the city is taking on development costs of the 78,000-square-foot convention center, an open-air plaza, a 300-car parking garage and a remodeled Ector Theatre.

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