KEARNEY, Neb. — The Younes Campus in Kearney is making the jump across the lake.

The hospitality district developed by Paul Younes and his family already includes seven hotels, three conference centers and a half dozen restaurants.

By the end of next year, the campus will also include a new dual hotel and a multipurpose district known as Younes Landing. Paul Younes says the vision for the west side of the lake started to take shape about 18 months ago.

“It doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t happen just over one year or two years," Younes said. "We’ve been working on that for many years, growing the campus here and growing the area.”

The dual hotel will be four stories and feature the brands Tru by Hilton and Home2 Suites. It will have a pool, a market and both brands will offer breakfast.

Younes Landing will include two 36,000 square foot buildings. Restaurants and retail space will occupy the main floor and apartments will take up some of the second floor. Between the two buildings, eight businesses have already committed as tenants.

The goal is to offer something new to Kearney.

“It’s how is it affecting not just my family or my staff, how is it affecting the city, how is it affecting the county, what we’re bringing in to make this area as much a better city for everybody,” Younes said.

The city is building streets and infrastructure right now to accommodate a new voter-approved youth sports complex. The 208,000 square foot facility is scheduled to open in late 2024, creating potential customers for the new hotel and Younes Landing next door.

“As that happens, (it) creates another demand, a different demand, and we need to compliment that," Younes said. "This is the reason the complex started growing.”

Younes says his drive to keep growing the campus comes from the feeling at the core of the service industry, the desire to make people happy.

“When I hear that from people, that’s a great thing for everybody," Younes said. "This is what motivates me, when people are happy, I’m very happy with that.”

The new dual hotel is expected to open next November. Construction will start on Younes Landing in August and Younes hopes the tenants will have their spaces ready to open by the end of 2024. As for who the tenants will be, Younes hopes to announce the full list in the next few months.

The city council has approved the use of tax increment financing for both projects.