BATON ROUGE - The historic Hilton Hotel, located in downtown Baton Rouge, is set to become a Sports Illustrated resort with renovations beginning in 2027.

Travel+Leisure Co. is backing the revitalization of the hotel, with the goal of turning it into a hub for sports and tourism. The company announced on April 14th that Baton Rouge is one of five cities chosen for Sports Illustrated hotels.

Lifelong Baton Rouge resident Deon Gatlin said he hopes the resort brings economic benefits to Baton Rouge.

"More people, more money, jobs, things that Baton Rouge really needs, hopefully they'll benefit in the right way," Gatlin said.

Groups like the Baton Rouge Area Foundation have pushed for years to bring more investment downtown.

They said the announcement shows the momentum happening downtown. Further announcements and investments are expected.

The Downtown Development District says it's too early to put an exact dollar amount on the impact the resort will have, but it does expect the project to set a trend.

The group said the project shows there is opportunity, and people want to invest in downtown Baton Rouge.