Added incentives
The Ocala City Council has approved $5.6M for downtown Marriott hotel project.
Workers with Pre-Con Construction check the angle of a wall as it is lowered into place from a large crane at the construction site of the Marriott AC Hotel that is under construction in downtown Ocala, Fla. on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. The 6-story, 176 room hotel will feature a rooftop restaurant and speakeasy. It is expected to be completed in late 2026. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
Lovers of downtown Ocala, get ready: Marriott is moving in.
At the Aug. 19 meeting, the Ocala City Council approved a redevelopment agreement providing up to $5,619,644 in incentives to Domach, LLC for Project Hometown, a new downtown Ocala Marriott AC hotel aimed at revitalizing the city’s core.
The incentives include a mix of direct cash, in-kind services and tax-related benefits to help the developer build the 176-room hotel. The package features a $500,000 cash grant paid out after construction milestones are met; a $108,000 elevator incentive where the city covers half the cost of a dedicated elevator in the parking garage; $2.6 million in tax increment financing payments, which act as a tax break by redirecting future property tax increases back to the developer over time; $559,000 in in-kind city improvements such as street upgrades and utility relocations around the site; a $1.6 million parking incentive providing discounted or dedicated spaces in the city’s new garage; and nearly $200,000 in review contributions that waive or reduce fees for building permits and impact charges, easing the developer’s upfront costs.
The vote marks a pivotal moment for a project already under construction on a vacant lot at 210 W. Silver Springs Blvd., set to transform into a six-story hotel slated for completion by late 2026.
The agreement, initially greenlit in concept on Nov. 7, 2023, outlines a minimum developer investment of $56,196,441, with construction managed by Ocala-based SSC Construction Management. HDG Hotels will operate the facility, which will feature a sixth-floor restaurant and bar, a first-floor bar and lounge, Class-A office space, meeting rooms, a business center, gym and outdoor patios.
The project aligns with the 2004 Ocala Downtown Master Plan, targeting economic growth on a site previously identified as a downtown eyesore, as noted in a Growth Management Department request for CRA fund use.
A related parking agreement reserves 225 spaces in Parking Garage No. 2, one block south, for exclusive hotel use, with 182 compact stacked spaces on the sixth floor and 43 standard spaces on the fifth floor, inaccessible to the public via barrier arms but potentially available on a first-come, first-served basis during select city events such as Light Up Ocala.
During the council meeting, Jessica Fieldhouse, executive director of Ocala Main Street, voiced strong support for the project.
“We believe that hotels are a key feature to revitalizing downtowns,” Fieldhouse said. “We know that with this development project, it will be an infill on a current vacant lot, which nobody wants in our downtown. It will stimulate the economy, produce jobs and, furthermore, drive tourism into our community to support our small businesses. We are very excited about this project, and we’re grateful that we have a local developer who is wanting to continue investing in downtown Ocala to support our small businesses in this way.”
Ocala Planning Director Aubrey Hale provided insights into the hotel’s ownership, confirming, “It’s Domach LLC, and then HDG, they’re going to be the hotel operator, and I believe they are also part of the LLC.”
He noted that the hotel is already under construction.
“The footers and the foundation have been installed, and I believe they’re going vertical on the construction,” Hale said.
On parking access, Hale explained, “It’s going to come down to the coordination between the hotel and our parking division, but we’ll also be having control over the arms, so we’ll be able to operate those during those special events.”
The agreement mandates that the developer purchase all electricity and fiber optic internet from the city. Addressing this, Hale clarified this utility mandate is an incentive tool.
“We’re trying to verify our way of capturing our return on investment. They are required, through the agreement, to have us as the sole provider. After the terms of the agreement, they can elect to do what they want,” Hale said.
“We weren’t as focused on the job creation as much as the capital investment,” Hale noted. “We know that it will create jobs, and it will bring in tourists. Even on the sales tax, they will be spending money within the city limits and without downtown specifically, hopefully, and then they will also be having the bed tax. That’s also what we’re going to capture from that. All of those things kind of line up to added benefits. Plus, you have the local businesses that will see the influx of new tourism into the downtown.”
For more information, visit ocalafl.org or call (352) 629-2489.
Support community journalism
The first goal of the Ocala Gazette is to deliver trustworthy local journalism so corruption, misinformation and abuse are not hidden from the public or unchallenged.
