The owners of the Downtown Sheraton hotel have moved past one of the hurdles on the road to a $226 million renovation and expansion of the hotel across from the Renasant Convention Center.

Starwood Capital Group was granted a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-tax incentive and a 5% tourism development zone surcharge by a Downtown Memphis Commission board Tuesday. The PILOT request will also have to be approved by the state due to the length of the PILOT. The tourism surcharge will have to be approved by the Memphis City Council.

The hotel group plans to renovate the entire hotel and construct a new tower to add 300 rooms to the 600-room hotel.

Rob Tanenbaum, managing director of asset management for Starwood, said it would be a “complete transformation” of the hotel.

“We see this as a great opportunity to re-invigorate this part of town,” he told the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation.

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Currently, renovations are expected to start in late 2023 and will be phased to allow the hotel to continue to operate. The work is projected to take 18 months. Construction of the new tower is expected to begin in 2024 and take 20 to 22 months.

Parking will be leased from the convention center.

Tanenbaum said the team is trying to incorporate Memphis’ music history into the interior design of the hotel. A new bar in the lobby will be added and would be a coffee bar in the morning and a bourbon bar in the afternoon. The existing restaurant will be remodeled into a sports bar that will feature local beer.

An outdoor area above the sports bar there will feature yard games, firepits as well as food and drinks.

While the rooms will be modernized, Tanenbaum said the goal of the updates is to turn the hotel into “more than just a guest room to lay your head.”

Doug McGowen, chief operating officer for the city of Memphis, said three things had been holding back the convention business in Memphis. The first was the convention center itself, which prompted the recent $200 million renovation. The second was the total number of Downtown hotel rooms, which has been expanding.

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The third was the dearth of full-service hotels, more of which are still needed. The Sheraton expansion would add 300 high-quality, full-service rooms adjacent to the convention center.

“This project, being connected to the convention center, is critical to our success,” McGowen said.

Corinne S Kennedy covers economic development and healthcare for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis downtown development: Sheraton hotel moves forward expansion