The Minnesota Lodging Association recently honored Mitch Peterson, President of Torgerson Properties, to the Minnesota Hospitality Hall of Fame during its gala 2012 Awards Ceremony on December 13 at Treasure Island Resort & Casino. The award recognizes outstanding long-term contributions to Minnesota’s hospitality industry.

After graduating with an economics degree, Mitch Peterson envisioned becoming an Economics professor, but a fateful job as a van driver at a Bloomington hotel drew him into the hotel business. After working for various companies, Peterson was hired by Torgerson Properties in 1988 as the Director of Sales for the Holiday Inn of Austin. After years of hard work in various positions, Peterson was promoted to President of Torgerson Properties in 2001. His leadership in sales, strategic planning and operations has helped to grow the 28 hotels and 10 restaurants at Torgerson Properties. Peterson is closely involved with many community and industry organizations. He currently serves on the Intercontinental Hotels Group Owners Association (IHGOA), Holiday Inn Brand Committee and the Southwest State Minnesota University Culinology and Hospitality Management Advisory Board, while also serving as the Chair of its Business/Industry Committee. He is a longtime board member of both the Minnesota Lodging Association and Hospitality Minnesota, holding executive positions in both boards during critical times of change. In his acceptance speech, he recognized the many people in his life that have helped him along the way, including his family, Torgerson Properties’ President Tom Torgerson, the associates of Torgerson Properties and his industry peers.

Hurricane Grill & Wings

Torgerson Properties currently manages 28 hotel properties, nine restaurants and over 2,000 associates in Minnesota and Florida. With their extensive experience in the field of hospitality, Hurricane Grill & Wings joins their roster with a commitment to develop the Hurricane Grill & Wings brand throughout the state of Minnesota. Torgerson Properties intends to open the Minnetonka location in mid-February, 2013.

“We are thrilled to add the second Minnesota Hurricane Grill & Wings location to our growing portfolio,” said president of Torgerson Properties, Mitch Peterson. “We continue to believe in a bright future for Hurricane Grill & Wings in Minnesota, and have identified Minnetonka as an ideal suburb of the Twin Cities for our over 32 flavors of fresh, jumbo wings. The family-focused environment and extensive menu will enhance the dining experience for residents of Minnetonka.”

For more information about Hurricane Grill & Wings, please visit www.HurricaneWings.com.

Rochester’s growing population and Mayo Clinic’s continued success are attracting the attention of hotel developers.

The latest project to be announced is a new Homewood Suites by Hilton extended-stay hotel to be built on the 1400 block of Second Street Southwest.

Rochester developer Marc Carpenter and Torgerson Properties, of Willmar, plan to build the 111-room, seven-story hotel on the open lots next to their Courtyard by Marriott. Including the SpringHill Suites, this will be the company’s third hotel within a few blocks of Saint Marys Hospital.

Construction is slated to start in the spring, with an estimated opening date in early 2014. The hotel will feature an indoor swimming pool, a 24-hour convenience store, a fitness center and complimentary grocery shopping services.

The project is described as completing Carpenter’s vision for Second Street. Two old houses between the Courtyard hotel and McDonald’s were torn down in 2010 as a preamble.

Hotel development is heating up in Rochester.

An 85-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites opened last month a few blocks west of where the Homewood Suites will be built. Across the street, the former Blondell Hotel was gutted and underwent an extensive remodel to be re-branded at the Brentwood on 2nd at the start of the summer.

Just east of the Courtyard by Marriott, a cluster of properties including the Bell Tower Inn sold for $2.72 million earlier this month. The new owners have not announced any plans yet, but many are speculating that the area will be re-developed with a new hotel.

Hoteliers are positioning themselves for the Med City’s future, which observers say appears bright.

“It is a bit of a prospecting thing,” says Brad Jones, president of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Rochester is very well-suited for growth. I think you will see a fair amount of growth in next five years.”

However, the hospitality market is flat at the moment, he says. Rochester hotels were running about 68 percent filled last month. Jones says about 70 percent occupancy usually triggers hotel development.

There has been dramatic increases in room rates here, with the average daily rate hitting $96 and the year-round average clocking in at $95.

That’s well above Minneapolis’ daily average of $75 and Duluth’s $80.

“People are drawn to that. Of course, we have some high-end rooms that skew that number,” says Jones.

The city has 5,362 rooms now, and that will grow to more than 5,400 by next year. That puts Rochester second in the state to only Minneapolis, which has more than 10,000 rooms, according to Jones. Many of those hotel guests are people seeking treatment at the Mayo Clinic, and their families.

“It is a huge amount for a community our size,” he says.

In the four-state region, Rochester is in the top five cities as far as number of hotel rooms. Rochester has about the same number as Madison, Wis., which has more than double the population.