The Commercial Appeal by Thomas Bailey Jr.

A hotel developer filed permit documents this week to build a $30 million, dual-branded hotel as part of the TraVure mixed-use development in Germantown.

Jackson, Mississippi-based Desai Hotel Group applied for the construction permit to erect a five-story building to house both a Hilton Garden Inn and Home2 Suites By Hilton.

The hotel will be part of local developer Ray Gill's $90 million TraVure project, the land use and phasing for which was approved by Germantown officials in February.

TraVure will be on 10 acres of Kirby Farms property east of Kirby on Poplar. That's in the city's 58-acre "Western Gateway,'' one of five commercial "nodes'' where the city is planning for denser, more walkable developments.

Gill said Wednesday that he hopes to receive approval for Phase 1 construction plans Aug. 22 from the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

No dirt has been moved yet. "I can't until they approve my (construction) contract,'' Gill said.

The first phase includes infrastructure, including TraVure Drive and landscaping improvements.

Phase 2 will include Desai Hotel Group's 206-room, dual-branded hotels on the south side of the property.

Phase 3 will be a 150,000-square-foot office building with a 480-space parking garage.

And Phase 4 will be a three-story building with retail on the bottom floor and office space upstairs.

If all goes well, Gill said he will complete Phase 1 construction before November rains begin.

"We should finish Phase 1 this year. Phase 2 would be (Desai's) hotel,'' Gill said. "It will take him 12 to 18 months to get it all built. And my Phase 3 depends on my leasing; I'm negotiating with credit-worthy tenants.''

Desai Hotel Group has built four hotels -- including a Hampton Inn in Hernando -- and has another six in the pipeline. Two of those include the dual-branded project in Germantown, according to the company's website.