TAKE A LOOK INSIDE: Patel's clean out Medical Arts, hotel development progresses

Patel talks with videographers Schwarz, Cooksey

In what will be a historic building turned hotel by a hopeful 2024, Medical Arts Building buyer Parth Patel gives an update on the work done, and the work to come, for his future Aloft Hotel by Marriott.

"I know a lot of people want to see more progress than maybe what we've seen, or what they might have seen going up and down the street, but a lot of work we've been doing on the inside," Patel said.

The work done so far includes interior cleanup, demolition and asbestos abatement. Patel is hopeful construction will begin within the next 90 days.

As the project progresses, Patel said certain historical aspects will remain. This will include the building's exterior design; window design; original doors that will be installed as "dummy doors;" original brass elevator doors; and the lobby's original light fixture and granite walls.

The completed project will have about 100 hotel rooms, half a floor designated for meeting rooms and a rooftop bar. With the Aloft brand, it will have a "boutique feel."

"We've done a lot of architectural renderings and architectural plans," Patel said. "We're still going back and forth on that, but on the building itself, what we've done is just a huge cleanup; there was a lot of debris on each floor. ... We've demoed out all the existing offices to create that open floor.

"... We're actually ready. Once Marriott approves the drawings ... we can start construction and framing. "

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