More than 160 acres of hay fields and raw ground in Pleasant Grove will make way for two new hotels, a convention center, a massive outdoor lifestyle mall, and a business park that could bring millions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs to northern Utah County by 2009.

On Wednesday, Springfield, Mo.-based industrialist John Q. Hammons announced he will not only build an Embassy Suites Hotel and convention center at the Pleasant Grove Interchange, but is also planning a second adjoining hotel. He declined to identify the hotel brand but Pleasant Grove Mayor Michael Daniels says it could be a Hilton Garden Inn or a Marriott-style hotel.

A white knight has also emerged for Sundance Commons. Plans for the 106-acre, $200 million outdoor lifestyle center just off Interstate 15 and Pleasant Grove Boulevard were in limbo after its original developer, Westwood Development Group, dropped out.

But on Wednesday, Dennis M. Baker, a Boise, Idaho-based land developer and owner of the Pleasant Grove Interchange property, said he will take over as co-developer of the lifestyle center and is now in talks with three national developers.

Baker, who owns 230 acres of raw ground in Pleasant Grove and Lindon, is also building a 350,000-square-foot business park north of a planned BMW dealership at the Pleasant Grove Interchange. Ground breaking for the business park, which is valued at around $70 million, will start this fall and the project is expected to generate up to 2,500 jobs.

In addition to unveiling plans for the 12-story, 300-room Embassy Suites and 100,000-square-foot convention center, Hammons, 87, also announced plans to build an eight- to 10-story, 220-room hotel with 10,000-20,000 square feet of on-site meeting space in 2008. Up to 400 jobs will be generated by the entire project, he said. He is also in talks with two upscale national restaurant chains for the Embassy Suites.

"To be successful in the hotel business, or any other business, you have to be able to identify the market, the best site, and be able to design and size the product to fill the void in the marketplace," Hammons told hundreds of business and government officials Wednesday.

"I like the growth from Salt Lake County south and Provo north, the visibility of the Pleasant Grove Interchange from I-15, and what Baker is doing at Sundance Commons," he said.

Hammons's interest in Utah County goes back 15 years when he first considered building a hotel near the mouth of Provo Canyon. But he said he abandoned those plans because the site was found to be contaminated with toxic waste.

Now, with Provo-based partner Rick Parkinson, Hammons says the timing is right.

Hammons, a private franchise developer of well-known hotel brands including the Radisson, Holiday Inn and Courtyard By Marriott, cited demand from expanding businesses and the 70,000-plus student populations of BYU and UVSC. He sees the convention center in Pleasant Grove generating between $4 million and $6 million by its third year of operation.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he sees Hammons's involvement as an indication that Utah is a "safe haven for capital and entrepreneurship," especially since Hammons is investing $30 million out of pocket in the convention center.

"Hammons's involvement indicates we're a state on the move and our economy is successful and attracting the attention of businesses that want to be part of this," Huntsman said at Wednesday's event.

While the operators of Provo Towne Centre and University Mall question whether Utah Valley can support mammoth lifestyle centers such as Sundance Commons and the proposed Terrace at Traverse Mountain in Lehi, Baker says he believes the environment is ripe for outdoor retail centers.

"Indoor malls are a tiny minority now. Outdoor malls make up 97 percent of new malls that are being built now," he said, citing retail industry studies. "And there are enough rooftops, especially upper-end housing in American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lindon and Eagle Mountain to support that."

The two hotels and convention center, which analysts compare to that of Grand America in Salt Lake City, combined with the population boom in northern Utah County, would make upscale retail businesses viable at Sundance Commons, said Brandon Fugal, vice president of Coldwell Banker Commercial in Salt Lake City and principal broker.

Fugal said Pleasant Grove is an ideal location for the convention center because of its proximity to the large number of network marketing corporate headquarters and technology-driven businesses in Utah County and Salt Lake County.

"Until now, these dynamic hypergrowth companies haven't had a place to turn to for large meetings and global events in Utah County. The Provo Marriott has about 28,000 square feet of meeting space. But the Pleasant Grove convention center is about five times that of Provo Marriott's," he said.

Scheduled for a groundbreaking next March and opening in the first quarter of 2009, the 100,000-square-foot Pleasant Grove convention center will include a 38,000-square-foot ballroom that seats up to 3,500 people and can be divided into 24 meeting rooms.

John Garfield, general manager of the 330-room Provo Marriott, says he isn't concerned about the potential competition.

"There's definitely a shortage of meeting space in Utah County. Pleasant Grove will add to what we have to offer in Utah County," he said. "In the last 18 months, demand for hotel rooms and convention space has grown because of the economic recovery. We've had to turn down business because we don't have enough meeting space."

Joel Racker, president and CEO of the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, agreed, saying the Pleasant Grove convention center will give Utah County an opportunity to compete with Salt Lake City for larger business events.

But is there sufficient demand to support both the Pleasant Grove convention center and a similar center in downtown Provo? Racker believes there is.

"Meeting planners tell us there are events being held outside Utah County that would have been held here if space was available," he said.

Provo and county officials are now deciding on whether to build a $29 million, 80,000-square-foot convention hall near the Provo Marriott. A local task force, however, favors a $15 million option for about 50,000 square feet attached to the Provo hotel.

"But conventioneers don't just sit in hotel rooms. They need restaurants, places to go for entertainment and shopping," said Racker, who managed the Courtyard By Marriott Las Vegas Convention Center hotel from 1998 through 2003. "The Embassy Suites hotel and convention center will be a huge catalyst for things to start happening in north Utah County."