Quality Inn to remain open during renovation into Hearth & Forge Hotel

Quality Inn to remain open during renovation into Hearth & Forge Hotel

Quality Inn to remain open during renovation into Hearth & Forge Hotel LOCAL Local investors acquire downtown hotel as part of $10 million project Lou WhitmireMansfield News Journal Sept. 16, 2026, 5:14 a.m. ET A local investment group led by Mansfield entrepreneur Jay Goyal and hotelier Snehal Patel has completed the purchase of the Quality Inn & Suites at 116 Park Avenue West, launching a $10 million effort to create a boutique hotel. The goal is to remake the property into the Hearth & Forge Hotel and bring new life to downtown Mansfield with a high-quality, full-service hotel and gathering place that's a Choice Hotels' Ascend Collection Hotel, according to a press release. “This is an exciting day for downtown Mansfield,” Goyal said. “For a long time, we’ve talked about what this property could be again. Today, we get to start making that vision real. We have an incredible building, an irreplaceable downtown location, tremendous community support and a group of local investors who believe deeply in Mansfield and its future. We can’t wait to get to work.” The hotel will operate as the Quality Inn & Suites Downtown Mansfield during renovation. Over the coming months, the property will undergo "a comprehensive transformation touching virtually every part of the hotel," Goyal said. The Hearth & Forge will be the Mansfield area’s only full-service upscale boutique hotel and will feature a restaurant and bar, meeting and event facilities and amenities for hotel guests and locals. Investors plan to hold a grand opening in summer 2027. “Our goal isn’t simply to renovate a hotel. We want to create a destination,” Patel said. “We want guests coming to Mansfield to have a hotel that feels special and reflects the character of this community while also creating a place local residents want to use for weddings, meetings, celebrations, dinner, drinks and events. This property hastremendous potential, and we’re excited to bring it back to life.” Park National Bank provided financing for the project. “We approached a number of financial institutions about this project, and Park National Bank really stepped up,” Goyal said. “They understood that this wasn’t just about financing a hotel. They saw what this project could mean for downtown Mansfield and for the broader community ... I want everyone in the community to know that this project would not be happening without Park National Bank's support. "We owe Park National and especially Chris (Hiner), Barb (Miller) and Scott (Heiman) a tremendous debt of gratitude — in addition to a fairly substantial mound of actual debt.” Mansfield City Council approved a 12-year, 75% property tax abatement for the redevelopment earlier this year, Goyal said, and the Ohio Department of Development approved a $528,000 tax credit. The investment group behind the project includes Mark and Beth DeLaney, David and Leslie Eichinger, the Gorman Family, Rich and Gayle Gorman Green, Chuck Hahn, John and Maura Siegenthaler, Rick and Carol Taylor, Goyal and Patel. “For us, the fact that this is a locally driven project matters,” Goyal said. “These are people who live here, work here, have built businesses here and care about what Mansfield looks like 10 and 20 years from now. We all see the same opportunity: to take an important property that has fallen short of its potential and turn it into something the entire community can be proud of.” Plans call for reducing the hotel’s room count while creating larger rooms and suites, Goyal said. Design, engineering and pre-construction work are already underway, with construction activity expected to ramp up in the coming months. “We think something special is happening in downtown Mansfield,” Goyal said. “There are a lot of people investing, taking risks and believing in this community. The Hearth & Forge is one more piece of that momentum. A year from now, we want people to walk through these doors and be amazed by what this building has become — and proud that it happened here in Mansfield.” Contact Lou Whitmire at 419-521-7223. She can be reached on X at @LWhitmir.