ZIONSVILLE — The Brick Street Inn is the only hotel in Zionsville, and as the town and Boone County grow, public officials are hoping to attract more lodging in a way that complements the town’s unique charm.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, communities should have one hotel room for every 100 residents. Zionsville has only eight rooms in the whole town, a shortage that is part of the reason local leaders hope to attract a boutique-style hotel.
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“Boutique hotels often have a name, have furnishings, have a feel that feels more local, more organic as opposed to a run-of-the-mill — every Holiday Inn looks the same,” Justin Hage, deputy mayor of Zionsville, said. “This is more of a local feel to the property.”
Discover Boone County, which houses the county’s visitor bureau, says there are 869 rooms total in Boone County. As the Indianapolis Executive Airport begins to accept international travelers and the Leap District brings in more corporate visitors, officials say expanding hotel options is needed.
“Boone County is growing rapidly. We are really fortunate to see people who really want to come to our area,” Allyson Gutwein, CEO of Discover Boone County, said. “Right now we have a 70% occupancy on the year, and some months have been as high as 84%.”
With growing demand, Zionsville hopes to be part of the solution, knowing it could benefit the town’s economy and community as a whole.
“Obviously, staying in the hotel generates innkeeper tax, but also food and beverage tax. They come to the restaurants, they come to the stores, so it really allows us to have events and spend their money and allow them to be here in the town of Zionsville,” Hage said.
That is why Boone County and Zionsville hope the study will show potential investors that the area is open for business.
“We want to make sure that people who feel like they are interested in having a business in Boone County feel like they have the opportunity to come and look at putting a property here as opposed to somewhere else in central Indiana,” Gutwein said.
Discover Boone County says it has identified properties where potential hotels could be built, but officials are not ready to announce those locations yet.
