Developers are unveiling site plans for a condominium/hotel development catering to Tennessee football fans willing to shell out up to $1 million for a place to lay their heads on game day.

Atlanta-based Gameday Centers Southeastern LLC, in partnership with Atlanta's Trammell Crow Residential, is announcing today it will spend $40 million to build a 212-suite luxury complex at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Poplar Street, near the Knoxville Convention Center.

The condos at Volunteer Center, less than a half-mile east of Neyland Stadium, will be sold. When not in use, owners will be allowed to rent them on a daily basis similar to hotel rooms. The residential units will be fully furnished and professionally decorated, with maid service and other amenities.

Rental prices will range from about $150 to $600 per night, according to Gameday President and CEO Gary Spillers. Purchase prices will range from $175,000 to $1 million, he said.

Construction on the building, which will have six or seven stories, is scheduled to begin next spring, with completion in 18 to 24 months, Spillers said.

The project targets sports enthusiasts, business professionals and University of Tennessee alumni.

The project will give a substantial boost to the number of hotel rooms available downtown. Two hotels have recently opened near the Convention Center, and there are 22 midscale or upper midscale hotels scheduled for construction in the Knoxville area.

Spillers said his project fills a void.

"What Knoxville doesn't have is really high-end, Ritz-Carlton quality lodging," he said. "That's what we bring to the table."

Gameday Centers has similar developments in Athens, Ga., near the University of Georgia; Tuscaloosa, Ala., near the University of Alabama; and Auburn, Ala., near Auburn University. A new development in Tallahassee, Fla., home of Florida State University, will open soon, and several others are in the works.

Spillers said he looks at more than 30 variables when selecting a site, including the size of the stadium and the size of the town. Knoxville ranked in the top 10 based on his selection criteria.

"The University of Tennessee has a storied football program, and that is the cornerstone of what we look for when we are selecting sites," Spillers said.

Gameday is paying the city of Knoxville $600,000 for the parking lot behind Church Street United Methodist Church and across from the Convention Center, where Volunteer Center will be built. Gameday agreed to provide the city with 200 parking spaces, except on game days.

The company also has an agreement with UT. In exchange for advertising and help promoting the facility, Gameday will make donations to UT's athletics department.

Mike Hamilton, UT men's athletics director, said the project is unique because it offers luxury accommodations in close proximity to the university.

Spillers said many of his other developments have sold out. First they were in demand from sports fans, but later investors started buying units. He said within the last seven years those other properties have increased in value.

Andy Miller, president of Seminole Boosters Inc., a fund-raising arm of Florida State University, who was with Spillers Thursday to tour the Tallahassee development, said Spillers was one of the early pioneers of this type development.

"He recognized the market before a lot of people did," Miller said. "There was a trend around the country of people investing in condos. He saw that we had a seasonal need."

Business writer Cynthia Yeldell may be reached at 865-342-6320.