After some design tweaks, an Atlanta developer is readying plans to go vertical on a new Moxy by Marriott hotel in Downtown Atlanta.

Nexera Capital, in a joint venture with Emerge Hospitality Group, expects to secure construction financing in June to break ground this summer on a 183-room Moxy hotel off Marietta Street, next to Centennial Olympic Park, founder and CEO Pete Patel told Bisnow.

Once closed, the financing would enable Nexera and Emerge to begin construction in July, with delivery expected in time for the eight Atlanta matches scheduled for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Patel said.

“That is one of the main reasons we didn’t want to delay. It’s basically eight Super Bowls in a month,” Patel said. “We didn’t want to miss out on that.”

Nexera applied April 19 to begin vertical construction on the $28M project at 329 Marietta St.

It is a later start on the hotel than Patel originally planned. He told the Atlanta Business Chronicle in September the firm hoped to start construction in the first quarter of this year.

The plans Patel shared with Bisnow this week also included an altered design from previous renderings, which reflects changes the developers made to keep construction costs down as it pushes for financing, Patel said.

“That's what the delay was related to. In today's environment, it's just so tough, especially with rising interest rate costs,” he said. “Where we are now we feel very good about it.”

The 13-story tower is slated to include an LED sign on its facade, as well as mural artwork facing Marietta Street produced by a local artist, Patel said. The hotel would have a rooftop speakeasy and lounge, as well as a taco restaurant and a Moxy bar on the ground floor.

Marriott describes its limited-service Moxy brand as “stylish and playful,” offering check-in in the bar area, LED lighting in the rooms, walk-in showers, 24-hour grab-and-go food and elaborate communal lobbies. The company already operates a Moxy in Midtown along 13th Street.

Patel said the growth of leisure travel to the area around the hotel site means the new Moxy could command an average of $200 a night.

“I think just Downtown Atlanta has a lot of momentum,” Patel said. “There’s just so many demand generators there.”

This isn’t the first foray for Nexera, formerly known as RevPar Cos., into the Downtown hospitality submarket. The firm developed and sold the SpringHill Suites Atlanta Downtown hotel in 2021 to Mission Hill Hospitality for $35.4M, according to the database Reonomy.

Patel also developed the Element Atlanta Buckhead, Tru by Hilton near The Battery and Truist Park, and the Aloft in Central Perimeter.

Despite a slew of new hotel rooms being added to the Metro Atlanta market, including 976 new rooms with the recent delivery of Signia by Hilton hotel at the World Congress Center, Atlanta’s hotel fundamentals have improved over the past year.

Occupancy rose in 2023 to 67.4%, while the average daily room rate hit $128.24, a 13% increase from the average in 2019, according to a report by Marcus & Millichap.

Developers are underway with more than 2,500 new rooms in Atlanta this year, a 10.6% increase in the supply from the overall 24-year metro average, according to Marcus & Millichap.