[media-credit name=’Photo by Siegel-Gallagher’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

A new hotel behind West Gorham Street’s Aberdeen Apartments is set to open in the fall of 2013.

Jeff Kraemer, a representative for property owners Raymond Management Company, said the Hampton Inn and Suites Hotel, located at the intersection of West Johnson and North Bassett streets, will contain 194 rooms and a 3,293-square foot retail space on the first floor. 

A Siegel-Gallagher Inc. statement said the hotel will also include 3,293 square feet for retail space on the first floor and an attached 200-car garage.

The retail space, whose occupant has yet to be determined, will have 15-foot ceilings and a large glass storefront, according to the statement.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said construction began in the summer of this year. City and neighborhood associations worked closely with the developers of Raymond Management Company to come up with the best design possible, he said.

According to the statement, the building will serve students, visiting parents, Badger game day fans and various other visitors to Madison. The building will also be in close walking distance to the Overture and Kohl centers, an advantage the statement also highlighted. 

Verveer said he thinks the hotel is in a good location. Although it is near the Double Tree Hotel and Hyatt Hotel, he said the market for hotels is strong, and the Hampton Inn and Suites would only help promote local tourism.

He added since there are all sorts of business-related travel to campus, the hotel would serve to them as well.

“It’s a good location from all of those perspectives,” he said.

Verveer said he hopes the retail space will attract business to provide service to the neighborhood. The hotel would also provide a job opportunity for students, he added. 

The construction will also raise the property value substantially and increase property tax revenues for all local governments as a result, Verveer said. 

City Council approved the project in mid-2011. 

Verveer said four residential buildings and one commercial building were demolished for the project. The commercial building, which once served as a pizza restaurant, has been vacant for five years, and two of the residential buildings have been vacant for more than a year. 

Maniaci added the original building plan was proposed to be half-hotel and half-apartment but was changed to become a full hotel before approved. Originally, the plan called for a hotel tower and an adjacent student apartment tower, with shared parking connecting the two buildings. Verveer said the developers chose to drop plans for the apartment building to focus solely on the hotel project. 

Gary Brink & Associates Inc., architect for the project, declined to comment.