As early as the 2000s, the city of Boulder has been wanting to bring a new hotel and convention center to revitalize one of its commercial districts known as University Hill, or the Hill.

And now, this decades-long plan is nearly at the finish line.

Last year, the Moxy Hotel was the first hotel to open in the city since 2018. It marked the first activation on University Avenue and Broadway to attract professionals and tourists to a part of the city primarily reliant on the business of college students.

And by August, across the street, the final and largest piece will open to the public: The Limelight Boulder Hotel and Conference Center.

On Monday, Aspen-based Limelight offered media a first glimpse into the new 252-room and all-electric hotel poised to bring larger conferences and events to Boulder – and potentially be a hub for the Sundance Film Festival when it moves to the city in 2027.

The Limelight Hotel Boulder is still brimming with construction, as workers are out on the outdoor terrace overlooking the Flatirons where a heated pool and hot tub could be ready for guests in time for the opening game between University of Colorado and Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.

Downstairs, construction workers are assembling a new Ajax Tavern restaurant, which will bring a taste of the Aspen ski resort to the area.

The hotel on its way to get a Gold LEED certification and aiming to become one of the largest all-electric hotels in the nation was built in partnership with the University of Colorado, costing more than $200 million.

It will be run by Limelight Hotels, the hospitality brand run by Aspen One with Colorado locations in Aspen, Snowmass and Denver. Limelight also runs a hotel in Ketchum, Idaho, and has plans to open a new location in Mammoth, Calif., and its first East Coast destination in Charleston, S.C.

The hotel rooms are being installed with custom art pieces, bright-yellow Smeg fridges and soft-closing cabinetry as art and artifacts set to be installed in the lobby will connect Boulder to Aspen’s bustling outdoor culture.

Reservations are open with rooms starting at $208 beginning in late August, though rooms during major college football game weekends are fetching for hundreds more. When the Wyoming Cowboys are coming in town to face the Colorado Buffaloes, one night can cost more than $1,600 and reservations over that weekend require a minimum three-night stay.

While in addition to being a hotel, Limelight Boulder is bringing the largest dedicated conference space Boulder has seen yet, according to Visit Boulder, the city’s tourism and convention agency.

The hotel will offer 26,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space for business events and weddings, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom.

That’s more than double in size to the largest ballroom in Boulder currently. The Embassy Suites ballroom is about 6,500 square feet.

Last year, Visit Boulder’s Director of Sales Fig Wirkler said the combination of the Moxy and the Limelight opening will help Boulder grow as a meeting destination, as it hasn’t had many large spaces before driving businesses to go to Denver or Longmont. It’ll not only attract new large events but keep some in the city, as well.

And it’s expected to bring a boon to the Hill in the summer, which is Boulder’s peak business and leisure season but when the many college students that fill its street are gone for vacation.

“The Hill doesn’t get to see a lot of the love that downtown sees during the summer months … It’ll be a big difference,” Wirkler said.

The Limelight is already getting interest from organizations looking for a space for their events, said Angela Blackstock, the hotel’s director of sales.

“Probably my biggest learning since I came on board was I thought it would be mostly CU business, but it’s not,” Blackstock said. “It is definitely those larger associations, larger corporate clients that really just outgrew Boulder.”

It’s still early to determine what industries are wanting to utilize the space the most, she added. But so far, there’s been high interest from science associations, technology companies and “a lot of AI companies, suddenly.”

Another big event on their radar? The Sundance Film Festival.

In March, the Sundance Institute announced it was moving one of the world’s largest independent film festivals from its home of Park City, Utah to Boulder after an extensive bidding process.

It was a major win for the state as Gov. Jared Polis said the festival could bring in $2 billion in economic impact over 10 years as well as put Boulder on the map as a cultural destination.

Why Sundance Film Festival chose Boulder

The festival is still a while away as Sundance will come to Boulder beginning in 2027, as Utah has one more year left as its host.

The hotel is part of a general agreement with other Boulder hotels to offer more than half of its inventory with a special Sundance rate, he explained. About a third of its rooms will have flex market pricing.

But as the city’s newest and largest conference space, it’s also in a position to cater to whatever infrastructure needs the festival may bring.

“Right now we’re just being ready to be that partner when they’re ready,” said Joseph Steiskal, Limelight Boulder’s general manager.

The hotel is in consideration to host Sundance’s closing gala, he explained.

He also said the festival is still seeking screening locations in downtown and near the college campus. There’s also corporate sponsorships that will be looking for event spaces within Boulder, adding that’s another big piece and that they’ve “barely scratched the surface” on opportunities the festival could bring.

“I think it would be a good hub spot,” Steiskal said. “We’re hoping to be a host hotel at that point.”

For the rest of the year, Steiskal said Limelight Boulder aims to be a new focal point for CU events.

“Long ago it started at the Millennium,” he said of the old hotel on 28th Street torn down for student housing. “It was kind of the launching point.”

With guests staying for game days, parent weekends or corporate conferences, he said the Limelight is a new basecamp where people will start from and meander to the university’s stadium or other events – and to the Hill’s surrounding businesses.

“And I think now this can be the launching point,” Steiskal said.