Ridgewood has convinced Ruth Hunt to leave her position as director of sales and marketing at Athens' Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and do the same work at Foundry Park. Hunt is a 20-year hospitality industry professional with former stints at Sheraton and Radisson hotels in the Southeast.

"She is a multi-talented professional who brings a depth of local knowledge to the management team at the Foundry Park Inn," Wayne McAteer, vice president/operations, Ridgewood Hotels, says in a prepared statement. Ridgewood manages Foundry Park for McChesney, the owner.

Company officials didn't disclose the estimated construction cost of the hotel but industry estimators familiar with comparable new properties in the area tell GlobeSt.com the upscale hotel and meeting facility couldn't be built for less than $100 per sf or about $12 million.