LEWISTON – A Marriott Courtyard hotel is headed for the Island Point development at the foot of the Great Falls, city officials and developers said Tuesday.

Developer Bob Winston of Winston Hotels said his plan for a 100-room Marriott Courtyard was approved by Marriott International on Monday afternoon.

“I think they recognized that we have a very strong location for their hotel,” Winston said. “We think it will become a destination place for downtown Lewiston, and they saw the same thing.”

Raleigh, N.C.,-based Winston Hotels Inc. announced plans in June to develop the hotel on the 1.16-acre paved lot on Mill Street, overlooking Veterans Park and the Great Falls. The city has owned that Mill Street parking lot since 1993, when it took the land via a lien for unpaid property taxes.

Although both Lewiston and Auburn were courting the Marriott chain, city officials have said they believe there is a market for only one such hotel in the Twin Cities.

Officials from Marriott International could not confirm Tuesday that a decision had been reached.

In Auburn, developers pushing a Marriott Courtyard franchise in the vicinity of the Auburn Mall said they weren’t ready to throw in the towel.

Developer George Schott said he had not heard from Marriott representatives. Developer Bob Baldacci, vice president of Ocean Properties, said he understood that no decision had been made.

“We are continuing to make our case,” Baldacci said.

Ocean Properties planned to build its Marriott Courtyard on a 1.5-acre parcel near the Turner Street entrance to Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. Schott declined to comment on plans for the site if his Marriott Courtyard application fails.

The Marriott Courtyard brand caters to a business clientele, providing rooms with built-in, high-speed Internet access, desks, ergonomic chairs and multiple telephone lines. It also markets itself as a place for reunions, weddings and vacations.

“In our mind, this will end up being great for both cities, Lewiston and Auburn,” said Lincoln Jeffers, assistant to the Lewiston city administrator. “It’s a high-quality franchise, and roughly equivalent to the Hilton Garden Inn.”

The hotel will become the first phase of the Island Point redevelopment project announced in 2005. Developer Travis Soule planned to redevelop Cowan Mill, immediately north of the planned hotel, for condominiums and a restaurant. That development had stalled, but Jeffers said the hotel would revitalize it.

“That was a wonderful vision, and it was well-articulated all along,” Jeffers said. “The only thing that’s changed, in the end, is the timing. This hotel will make that project a reality, and make the Cowan Mill development move along.”

Winston said he hopes to bring design plans to the city in the next three months. Work could begin in the spring, according to Jeffers.