$6.2 million hotel planned in Orange City, Iowa

ORANGE CITY, Iowa | A $6.2 million Hampton Inn is planned next to the Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City.

A new, larger Casey General's store also will be built in the northwest Iowa city of about 6,000. The Orange City Development Corp. announced both projects Tuesday.

Construction is expected to begin this fall on the three-story, 60-room hotel, with an opening planned for April 2014. The Hampton Inn will be built along Highway 10 East, just east of the $4 million event center, which opened last summer.

"The event center and hotel together will enhance the 'destination' aspect of our community, boosting our ability to host a variety of corporate and private events and meeting the needs of both residents and visitors," Development Corp. Vice President Marty Guthmiller said in a statement.

The land for the hotel was purchased by the Development Corp. from Deb and Clayton Korver, who had donated an adjacent parcel for the event center two years ago. A portion of the newly-acquired site – including a pond, fountain, and walking path – was then donated to the city. The remaining hotel property has been exchanged for an equity position in Prairie Winds Hotel Holdings LLC, a group of 20 local investors which will own and operate the new Hampton Inn.

Managing members of the corporation – elected by the members – include Steve Roesner, Doug Vogel, Daryl Beltman and Guthmiller.

The 4,200-square-foot Casey's General Store also will be built along Highway 10 East site at the site of an existing motel, the Dutch Colony Inn. The current hotel site, totaling 125,000 square feet, was acquired by the OCDC, which then sold 44,000 square feet to Casey's.

The new store will be double the size of Casey's current Orange City store on the west end of Highway 10. The larger location will feature expanded food service offerings, including a beer cave and an expanded coffee bar, said Brian Johnson, vice president of finance for Casey’s General Stores Inc.

Based in Ankeny, Iowa, the company owns and operates more than  1,730 convenience stores in 14 Midwestern states.

Reported by:  Sioux City Journal.com