Logan could be new competition for Salt Lake City and Park City when vying for conventions.

Wasatch Development Associates unveiled the new Riverwoods Marriott Hotel and Conference Center Thursday in Logan. The $60 million project, at 650 S. Main, includes the hotel, conference center, office space, a fitness center and a parking structure.

Wasatch Development estimates further additions, such as condominiums, more retail space, banks and restaurants, will be completed in about 15 months. The Marriott Hotel will have 115 rooms, and the conference center will be able to hold groups from 15 to 700 people.

"We're taking the time to really return a quality product to the community as a gathering place," said Dell Loy Hansen, principal of the Wasatch Development Company.

The conference center will be the first for Logan and will provide a venue for public use. Hansen said the company felt the city lacked a gathering place for special events and a venue for businesses to hold conventions.

"We would be prepared to handle some of the largest conferences," Hansen said. "It will rival any conference center that's in an urban mix."

The project, which lines the Logan river, provides beautiful views, walking paths and natural landscaping for visitors to the hotel and conference center, as well as the public.

Hansen described the area as what a community should be — beautiful landscaping with everything a city needs in one place.

Area renovations included not only building a hotel but also included clearing the river of wood blockage, blocking it from flooding, trimming the trees and providing a walkway.

One office building, the parking structure and athletic facility with retail spaces have been completed so far. Construction for the rest of the project will commence in September with the restaurant planned for completion in late summer of 2008. The conference center is to be finished in late fall of 2008 and the hotel finished before Christmas of that year. Hansen said.

The city expects the new development will bring in approximately $10 million in business conventions and other events.

"The Riverwoods development is a great addition to Logan and will provide significant opportunities for growth of the local economy," said Randy Watts, Logan's mayor in a prepared statement.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com