Pre-construction work should start in the fall on The Lodge at Fontanel, a Holiday Inn resort, which will bring 150 rooms and a conference facility/events center to the former estate of country music singer Barbara Mandrell.

Fontanel Attractions LLC is seeking the Metro Planning Commission's approval of its final site plan for the up to $30 million resort, which will sit among the hills near Fontanel Mansion in Whites Creek. Under the plan, the Mansion will be transformed into the lobby for the resort along with a bar/restaurant, banquet and meeting space and one large luxury suite.

"There's a lot of excitement being generated about this project in Nashville, and we feel confident that we'll be moving forward," said CEO Bob Ekman of MORE American Hospitality, the management company that oversees development and operations of the Fontanel property.

In fall 2013, music industry veterans Dale Morris and Marc Oswald, owners of the 137-acre Fontanel property, announced plans for what then was expected to be a 140-room resort with eight lodges wrapped around the Fontanel Mansion. Construction didn't start last year as planned, but now Ekman said the plan is to start building in the first quarter of 2016, with the resort to open a year later.

The 150 rooms at the InterContinental Hotel Group-branded resort would be spread across six buildings. Pet-friendly and children-friendly rooms are among the variety of room types planned. The conference center is expected to have a capacity for up to 350 people.

In addition to the Fontanel Mansion used for tours that highlight Barbara Mandrell's country music career, the 137-acre property includes a restaurant and bistro, The Inn at Fontanel, and Prichard's Distillery.

EDGE, a planning, landscape architecture and development consulting firm, is listed as the applicant in Fontanel Attractions' filing that seeks approval of its final site plan.