Pine Bluff breaks ground on hotel next to Convention Center

City leaders and building developers broke ground on construction of a Courtyard by Marriott scheduled to open next to the Pine Bluff Convention Center by the summer of 2026.

The ceremony on a cold, cloudy Friday downtown drew interested citizens and businesspersons to the site of the old Plaza Hotel, a now-demolished structure that succeeded the original Wilson World hotel that opened in 1988.

The groundbreaking capped four years of planning between development firm The P3 Group and the city, which is counting on the 125-bed, $28 million project to spur an economic boon.

“When the Pine Bluff (Convention Center and Hotel) Public Facilities Board was created, I sat under the leadership of the late attorney Bill Bridgforth, who was chair of the board at the time,” said Letrece Harris, the present board chairwoman. “I was his vice-chair. He believed in this project, and today, I’m sure he’s smiling down on us today. This project, this vision, is a testament to the very principle that if you believe against the odds, anything can be accomplished.”

The Public Facilities Board will own the hotel. The board counted on an $18 million senior loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture up to 80% and a $3 million loan from the city toward the project. The P3 Group and Beechwood Pinnacle Management, which will manage the daily operations of the hotel, are part-owners as well, contributing to a $1.9 million junior loan.

“Almost four years to the day, we started this journey with the city,” said Dee Brown, The P3 Group CEO. “This is the first city in America, that I know of, that will own a convention center and hotel together.”

Brown, whose firm has a hand in many projects across Pine Bluff, credited elected officials for the “vision and fortitude” to make tough decisions on the project.

“Thanks for allowing us to be part of a great success story,” Brown said.

CHASM Architecture of Atlanta is the architect, and H.E. Mitchell Construction of Harrisburg, Ill., will build the hotel.

Grandon Gray, P3’s vice president for human resources, said he was on business in the Harrisburg area for another project when a representative from Farmers State Bank, which eventually loaned the $18 million, said the institution is the largest U.S. Small Business Administration lender in the country.

“Well, let me tell you about Pine Bluff!” Gray said he responded. “It just goes to show if you order your steps with the Lord … everything will fall into place.”

The plan for Pine Bluff to return a hotel next to the Convention Center began during Shirley Washington’s term as mayor and is hitting the homestretch under her successor, Vivian Flowers, who was a state representative before winning office in November. Flowers said she was focused on the project while serving at the state Capitol.

“There had been a lot of movement downward, and I knew that this was a place that could house more memories around homecoming, around family reunions, around visiting families, around corporate meetings,” Flowers said.

Despite being told by a late Little Rock city official to “stay in your lane” and let the city of Pine Bluff worry about making the hotel happen while in the Legislature, Flowers said, she was always excited about the prospect of bringing such a structure back to downtown.

“I want to ask you to recognize this groundbreaking as a part of our rich history, and look around,” she said. “Think about all the groundbreakings that happened downtown. … I never could imagine that this would come together as a result of the hard work and the vision of so many people. But I want to tell you, we have always been a city of progress. We will continue to be a city of progress, and in 10 years we will have been at many more groundbreakings to break ground for families here in Pine Bluff, for the tourists that come here and the people who have no idea what a rich, great, thriving city we have been, we still are and we will be.”