$14 million hotel planned on Lake Sinclair near Milledgeville

Hotel guests will be able enjoy the beauty of Lake Sinclair from a rooftop bar as part of a $14 million investment near Milledgeville.

Real estate developer Gary B. Spillers of Collegiate Ventures announced plans to build a 94-room Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham at the lake off U.S. 441.

"There's a need there that's not being served," Spillers said Thursday.

The hotel will create 37 jobs, including seven for local college students planning careers in the hotel and hospitality industry, according to a company release.

"We are excited to bring this luxurious extended-stay product to the Milledgeville area," Spillers said in the statement. "I have always believed that a first class hotel adjacent to Lake Sinclair and Highway 441 north would be a win-win situation for the Lake Country area, the local colleges and the city of Milledgeville."

The building will have lakeside views, suites equipped with kitchens, a fitness center and business center.

Pamela Jackson, a former manager of the Hampton Inn in Milledgeville, will manage the new hotel, which will be built across from Georgia Power's old Plant Harllee Branch, which is gradually being demolished.

Spillers, a Milledgeville native, has developed hotel complexes in Athens, Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Tallahassee, Florida.

He has also been working in recent years on a residential development closer to Georgia College.

Construction could begin in the next two months, with the project expected to be completed by the end of the year or early 2017.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 9:42 PM with the headline "$14 million hotel planned on Lake Sinclair near Milledgeville ."