Groundbreaking set Aug. 24 for Pleasant Grove hotel

Groundbreaking for Utah Valley's first Embassy Suites Hotel and adjoining conference center will take place at 10 a.m. Aug. 24 in Pleasant Grove.

The 13-story, 300-suite hotel will have a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, and the development will offer more than 120,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. It is expected to open in spring 2009.

Friday's announcement was made by John Q. Hammons, founder, chairman and chief executive offer of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, and Pleasant Grove Mayor Michael W. Daniels. The project announcement was made more than a year ago.

The hotel will be built in an area known as The Grove. Daniels said more than 20 office and retail developments are likely to be located in The Grove. Projects currently in development include 500,000 square feet of retail space and 1 million square feet of office space. Ten projects are expected to break ground by year's end.