Over the next 18 months, an entire block of Bristol’s Main Street district will be transformed into a destination hospitality complex centered around a new 70-room luxury boutique hotel called the Sessions Hotel.

The project by Creative Boutique Hotels (CBH), which includes Hal Craddock, Cornerstone Hospitality and MB Contractors, will span nearly the entire 800 block of State Street and 15 Commonwealth Avenue, encompassing the properties that currently include the Owen Equipment building and adjacent parking lot, KSS, Jobbers Candy and the Mill.

The Sessions Hotel will feature 70 upscale hotel rooms, a spa and a restaurant. The hotel will also boast a music stage and green space venues, a roof top garden café, and roof top bar. The project will blend historic architecture with new construction, similar to Craddock’s approach developing the acclaimed Craddock Terry Hotel and Event Center in Lynchburg’s Main Street district, which consistently maintains an 80 percent occupancy rate year round and has won numerous awards.

Construction will begin on the Sessions Hotel by March, with a projected opening date of Spring 2015.

CBH will be investing $20 million in capital expenditures to the property. In keeping with the local theme of the project, much of the skilled detail work will be done at the hands of local artists and trades people. Sessions Hotel will ultimately employ 70 FTEs, and guarantees a return of $1.2 million over the next five years in sales taxes alone.” – Andrew Trivette Bristol, Virginia Assistant City Manager

Creative Boutique Hotels is a Virginia-based partnership focused on the development of boutique hotels in small markets and on the repurposing of historic buildings, as well as new construction. The partnership combines the talents of three industry leaders. Cornerstone Hospitality conducts market analyses, determines viability and makes recommendations for property size, styling and operations management. Hal Craddock of Craddock Cunningham Architectural Partners specializes in the vision, design and repurposing of historic structures. MB Contractors provides a solid foundation of construction costs and craftsmanship.

In addition to the Sessions Hotel, other current boutique hotel projects include the expansion of their existing Craddock Terry Hotel in Lynchburg, the revitalization and expansion of the John Randolph Hotel in South Boston, the adaptive reuse of One Mill Place in Farmville and the feasibility, design and construction of a ground up boutique hotel called the Rutherfoord Hotel in Crozet.