Republic Airways planning second hotel at Carmel HQ campus

Republic Airways plans to build an 84-room hotel with first-floor retail at its new campus in Carmel. (Rendering courtesy city of Carmel)

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. has submitted plans to the city of Carmel to build a second hotel to increase the number of rooms available to employees at its new $200 million campus along U.S. 31.

Chris Boardman, president of Indianapolis-based Ratio Architects Inc., said Thursday at a Carmel Plan Commission Hearing Officer meeting that Republic’s 60,930-square-foot hotel will feature first-floor retail and 84 hotel rooms in the upper five floors.

The hotel will be in addition to an existing hotel at Republic’s campus, which the regional airline converted from 109 rooms to 272 rooms. The hotel is used by pilots and flight crew members from around the country who visit the airline’s 105,000-square-foot training center.

Republic’s campus between U.S. 31 and North Pennsylvania Street currently features the training center that houses eight full-motion flight simulators, the 272-room hotel and an 800-space parking garage, which all opened in April 2023. Republic is currently building a 122,000-square-foot headquarters building that is expected to open in January 2026.

The new 84-room hotel will be connected to the parking garage east of the headquarters building. Carmel Director of Community Services Mike Hollibaugh, who served as the hearing officer at Thursday morning’s meeting, approved Republic’s plan for the hotel. The Carmel Redevelopment Commission is scheduled to vote to approve the hotel at its meeting on June 18.

“I believe this is a transformational redevelopment project that’s happening in our city, and we are so thankful to have a company like Republic make a home here,” CRC Executive Director Henry Mestetsky said at Thursday’s meeting. “This [hotel] enlarges the amount of people that Republic can have on this site.”

Republic has more than 6,000 employees, which includes 2,000 pilots, 2,000 flight attendants, 600 maintenance technicians and 300 systems operations control associates who handle dispatch and crew scheduling.

Republic and the city of Carmel announced in September 2021 that the regional airline would relocate its Indianapolis headquarters and consolidate its flight simulators that were in Cincinnati and St. Louis.

Republic’s campus is on the southern half of a 14-acre property that previously was occupied by the Hamilton Crossing retail center. Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Trust owned the Hamilton Crossing property and is managing redevelopment of the site.