"These are the types of projects that jump real estate cycles,"Patrick Ford, president of Portsmouth, NH-based LodgingEconometrics, tells GlobeSt.com about Mandarin's Atlanta hotel."This one is years in the making. It's going to open in an entirelydifferent environment."

Atlanta-based Tivoli Properties Inc. announced long-rumoredplans Thursday to build a $285-million luxury hotel and condo toweron just under an acre at 1138 Peachtree St., along the so-calledMidtown Mile in the city's arts district. Project plans call for198 guest rooms that will cost $350 per night, plus 71 residentialcondominium units priced from $2 million to $15 million.

Although Tivoli has yet to secure all of its financing for theproject, a tall order during the current credit crisis, Fordobserves that there are several other steps in the process, such aszoning and more city approvals. "They have to get a lot of ducks inorder," he says, adding that construction on the project, even ifit starts next year, will take roughly 30 months to finish.