Groundbreaking for the learning center and SpringHill Suites project is scheduled for March 31.

Some lodging companies, like Sage Hospitality, recognize the future health of the hospitality industry rests with the quality of the education system serving it. As a way to bring life to that philosophy, Sage is partnering with Metropolitan State College in its home city of Denver on an intriguing, if not unique, project that combines academics with real-world hotel and f&b experience for MSC’s 500-plus hospitality majors.

The college floated bonds to build a 28,000-square-foot hospitality learning center that will be integrated with a new 150-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott property in downtown Denver near the college’s campus. The complex will have two separate buildings connected around an entrance courtyard. A second-floor meeting complex will also connect to both buildings.

“The idea for the hotel and learning center grew from a long-standing relationship between Walter Isenberg [Sage’s president & CEO] and Metro State Dean [Stephen] Jordan,” says Robert Butler, a divisional vice president of Sage. “The two of them have looked for unique opportunities to integrate classroom learning and practical experience. This is a natural fit.”

Sage will help in the development and construction phases of the center and hotel and manage the lodging property once it opens in time for the 2012-‘13 school year. The property will be the sixth Sage-operated hotel in the downtown Denver market. One property, the Curtis, a Doubletree, already provides nearly 900 square feet of classroom space for Metro’s hospitality instruction. Classes taught at the Curtis cover advanced hotel operations, hotel housekeeping and meeting and event management. Sage currently hires a number of Metro hotel students and alumni of the program.

The SpringHill will be a living laboratory for MCS students. It will have 5,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space as well as two foodservice outlets. One will be a full-service bar and restaurant open to the public. Sage chefs and food and beverage managers will provide guidance, but students will operate the facility. The hotel will also have space for another, more-casual food outlet. Also on the foodservice side, Peter Karpinski, president of Sage Restaurant Group, will work with MSC faculty to shape the curriculum to include real-world scenarios as well as academic needs.

“Walter’s vision, and the goal of the project, is for the two facilities to be integrated at every level possible,” says Butler. “The lesson plans at the school will reflect the day-to-day operations of the hotel, and the space and staffing models of the SpringHill Suites will take into account the need to involve students in the operation.”

While the hotel is on the college campus, Butler says it go after a wide range of business, including leisure, business transients and small groups. Sage has an integrated sales organization that markets all of its downtown Denver hotels and will include the new SpringHill. The portfolio also includes a Residence Inn, a TownePlace Suites, a Courtyard by Marriott and The Oxford, an independent.

While interior design of the hotel is still in progress, Butler says it will have a Colorado theme. The lobby will feature nearly floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Denver with views to the mountains in the west. Sage and the college intend to pursue LEED certification for the project.