Crain Construction’s Top 5 Hospitality Projects

Crestmoor building during construction

At Crain Construction, we take pride in our ability to deliver exceptional results on complex and high-profile hospitality projects. Our experience spans a variety of hotel builds, each presenting unique challenges and requiring innovative solutions. Here, we’ll walk through five of our standout hospitality projects, all of which showcase our commitment to quality, safety, and client satisfaction.

BNA Hilton Hotel

The sound-proofed 298-room Hilton BNA Nashville Airport hotel is a landmark project for our team. The ten-story hotel sits atop a five-story parking garage. It stands out in our history because of its impressive size and scale. Features include higher-rated acoustical windows that block out all jet noise and a pre-glazed precast exterior that creates a striking geometric shape. 

The project also required strategic and meticulously coordinated efforts to address the unique challenge of building it in the midst of an active airport environment. Extensive collaboration with general contractors and additional stakeholders was crucial in navigating busy airport operations, keeping the site secure, and ensuring seamless integration with surrounding infrastructure. Our team achieved zero lost-time incidents over 19 months and went 297 days without a single accident, demonstrating our commitment to safety. Despite 47 lost days due to rain, we completed the project ahead of schedule on December 22, 2023. 

Fairlane Hotel

Converting a former bank headquarters into a boutique hotel in downtown Nashville required extensive pre-planning, engineering, and a creative approach to renovation. This 81-room, 13-story hotel now stands as a retro-modern gem that blends the old with the new.

The project involved transforming the rooftop mechanical space into a luxurious penthouse suite with a wraparound terrace. Elevators were then extended to reach the newly added thirteenth floor. Crain’s team also devised a traffic management plan to accommodate the busy urban setting, ensuring pedestrian safety while keeping the project on track. Our Fairlane Hotel case study takes an even closer look at the process we implemented for this memorable project.

TownePlace Suites by Marriott 

Building the TownePlace Suites by Marriott in downtown Nashville was particularly challenging due to its location atop the city’s oldest and longest sewer tunnel, the Kerrigan Tunnel. This ten-story, 193-room hotel required careful planning and creative engineering to protect the tunnel while navigating the challenges of a tight urban site.

The site’s limited space demanded precision and creativity, with only three feet to the property line on either side. Smaller equipment and careful demolition strategies were employed to navigate these constraints. The building’s design ensures that Metro Nashville retains access to the Kerrigan Tunnel for future maintenance, demonstrating our commitment to preserving the city’s infrastructure.

The project’s success earned Crain Construction an Eagle Award, the highest honor for Excellence in Construction from ABC of Greater Tennessee, as well as high praise from our client.

“The project team at Crain Construction was attentive to owner requests and priorities, thorough in quality control practices and documentation, and responsible and timely with pricing changes while maintaining a position of owner-advocacy that was fair to the project trade partners. The integrity that is foundational to the culture at Crain Construction is evident in all they do.” – Hiren Desai, 3H Group President & CEO

Hampton Inn on Fourth Avenue

This downtown Nashville hotel was one of the first buildings constructed in the rapidly growing SoBro district. It also marked Crain’s very first hotel project in the early 2000s. The Hampton on Fourth also laid the groundwork for the district’s transformation into the vibrant urban hub it is today. A successful collaboration with MR Hotels, LLC paved the way for our team to complete many more downtown hotel projects in the years that followed.

Hilton Alpharetta 

Building the Hilton Alpharetta in Georgia required creative problem-solving around unexpected soil settlement issues and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, through strategic planning and our team’s proactive approach to problem-solving, Crain Construction successfully delivered an exceptional eight-story 249-room hotel. 

A Partner You Can Trust

For over 90 years, Crain Construction has earned its reputation as a trustworthy and knowledgeable partner. We understand that every project is unique, and we’re prepared to tackle any challenge that arises with creativity, adaptability, and an unwavering commitment to quality. Reach out to us to discuss your next project.

Related Projects

commercial construction site in nashville
From Vision to Build: How Pre-Construction Bridges Design and Construction

As commercial development accelerates, owners and developers are increasingly involving contractors earlier in the planning process to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risks before construction even begins. For many of our clients, pre-construction is no longer an afterthought—it has become an industry standard, especially in rapidly growing cities like Nashville.  At Crain, we believe...

fairlane hotel building project in nashville
Nashville’s Hotel Boom: Unpacking the Pros and Cons of Renovation vs. New Construction

Music City’s tourism scene has exploded in recent years, driving the highest demand for hotels and hospitality seen in our 90+ years in Nashville. This surge will to continue, with industry forecasts projecting steady growth in the coming years. In 2025, Nashville is expected to have 17.5 million visitors, and by 2033, it could have...

urban construction site in downtown nashville
Optimizing Site Access and Scheduling in Urban Construction Projects

Nashville’s urban landscape is experiencing unprecedented growth, with numerous commercial construction projects reshaping the city’s skyline. According to the Urban Land Institute and PwC’s 2025 U.S. Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, Nashville ranks as the No. 5 market to watch, reflecting its robust development trajectory. For property owners and developers, effectively navigating the construction...

new building contructed in nashville
Breaking Down the Budget: A Developer’s Guide to Commercial Construction Costs in Nashville

Understanding the costs of construction is one of the most foundational elements of effective project planning. This is especially true in a dynamic and fast-growing city like Nashville, where property values, labor costs, and material prices have seen steady increases in recent years. Navigating these costs requires a blend of expertise, foresight, and collaboration. At...

Community

We partner with organizations to invest, give back and make a positive impact on the communities where we live and work.

Blog

Get the latest Crain Construction Blogs and interesting insights about our projects and community endeavors here.

When you’re ready to build, we’re here for you

Reach out to start a conversation with our team.