Dec. 29—A new developer is tied to the proposed downtown Kokomo hotel and conference center development.

Lafayette-based SSG Hotels has taken over the project that was originally announced in 2018 but has yet to break ground, changing developers five separate times in the process.

Lori Dukes, president and CEO of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance, said during December's Howard County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) board meeting the Alliance and SSG hotels are awaiting updated hard construction bids. Those are expected by the end of this month. Development agreements are expected to be finalized in mid- to late-January, she added.

Groundbreaking is tentatively set for some day next year.

"A lot of great progress is being made," Dukes said. "We're excited to see that it continues forward ... The need for the project hasn't changed."

SSG Hotels has past experience developing Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and Wyndham hotels in Indiana and other Midwestern states, according to its website.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

SSG Hotels is the fourth unique developer in five years to take over the project. Previous developers — Dora Hotel Company, MWA Kokomo LLC and Envoy — all have once taken over the project only to later back out.

Dora Hotel Company, the project's original developer, took over and backed out twice, once in 2019 and most recently this year in October, citing increased construction costs and the ability to earn a faster return on investment in larger cities, such as Indianapolis, rather than Kokomo.

The quick turnaround to a new developer can be partially attributed to the CVB board approving the spending of $345,000 to purchase the hotel and engineering designs from Dora Hotel Company, saving any other developer from having to cover those costs.

The six-story, 123-room Hilton Garden Inn and the adjoining conference center is to be located in the block between Main and Union streets just north of Wildcat Creek and south of East Superior Street.

While the hotel will be owned and operated privately, the two-story conference center will be owned and operated publicly, offer conference room space and be the new home for the Kokomo Automotive Museum and the Alliance.

The whole project was originally pegged to cost approximately $29 million, with the hotel estimated to cost $18 million as of 2019. But with inflation and construction costs higher than they were in 2018 and 2019, the cost of the project has certainly increased, though, by how much has not been publicly announced.