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O'Reilly Hospitality Management, LLC and Hilton Worldwide announce franchise agreement at A-State

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Jonesboro Hotel Partners, LLC and its management company, O'Reilly Hospitality Management, LLC, have received full and final approval from Hilton Worldwide to move forward with the Embassy Suites Hotel & Red Wolf Convention Center & Houlihan’s Restaurant at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Ark. 

The 202-room Embassy Suites Hotel featuring a 40,000-square-foot Convention Center will be located on Red Wolf Boulevard on the A-State campus adjacent to the Convocation Center and Centennial Bank Stadium.

“We are very excited to immediately move forward with this incredible project in partnership with the key driver of visitors and conference attendees to the region, Arkansas State University,” says Tim O'Reilly CEO/Managing Partner O'Reilly Hospitality Management, LLC.  “We are confident that the combination of the Embassy Suites by Hilton brand, the power of the Hilton Worldwide global sales and marketing systems and our deeply experienced O’Reilly Hospitality team of professionals will produce a successful hotel and convention center to serve the growing Northeast Arkansas area.”

Jonesboro Hotel Partners & O'Reilly Hospitality Management have also reached an agreement with Butler Rosenbury Architects of Springfield, Mo., to immediately finalize all architectural and engineering documents, and are in the final phases of negotiating a design build construction contract with a general contractor.  Construction is slated to start in the third quarter of 2016.

The Embassy Suites Hotel will afford prospective students and their families, as well as visiting artists, scholars, and speakers, sports teams, returning alumni and many others, the convenience of staying on campus in a first-class facility. The much-needed convention center space, which can be configured to accommodate groups from 15 to 1,200, will enable Jonesboro to attract thousands of new visitors each year who would otherwise go elsewhere, providing additional clients for local restaurants and existing hotels and significantly boosting local tax receipts.

“With this top-of-the-line new facility and the O'Reilly Hospitality partnership, Arkansas State will implement a new academic program in Hospitality Management allowing us to recruit students interested in this growing professional field,” says Dr. Tim Hudson, Chancellor at A-State. “It will also enhance our ability to utilize existing meeting spaces on campus such as the Convocation Center and the Fowler Center.”

The project site is on Red Wolf Boulevard, the busiest thoroughfare in Jonesboro, on 11 acres often referred to as the “old track.”

“The Embassy Suites Hotel and Red Wolf Convention Center will be the finest conference and meeting facility in the entire region,” says O'Reilly, “providing an alternative hotel experience for all visitors, creating new jobs and add a corporate citizen with a proven track record of success to the City. This is a strong win-win partnership.”

This statement from Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson:

"We are grateful to Tim O’Reilly and Hilton Worldwide for their commitment to this exciting development on campus. Their experience and reputation in operating first-class hotels and convention centers will ensure we have facilities that enhance tourism, educational opportunities and economic development in Northeast Arkansas. The benefits for our students, their parents, alumni and visitors to Jonesboro will be tremendous."

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