Oct. 31–Lexington should have a new hotel, a Hampton Inn by Hilton, by this time next year.
Alan Carson, Lexington City manager, said the development company has received approval for a major zoning permit and will submit the building plans within the next couple of weeks.
"Once those are approved and they don't make any major changes, they should be ready to start construction by the first of the year," Carson said. "If everything goes well, they should be operational by this time next year."
He said that once construction begins, it should take between eight and 10 months to complete.
In January, real estate management company MRI Hotels announced it would build a new 80-room hotel at 1265 Fairview Drive, next to the new Lidl grocery store. The hotel will include a swimming pool, meeting center, fitness center, laundry facility, snack shop, free Wi-Fi and breakfast.
Carson said that a recent strategic planning study by ElectriCities of North Carolina on behalf of Lexington identified the need to provide more hotel and motels in the area.
"There is a need for a hotel in Lexington," Carson said. "We need more rooms for events such as the Barbecue Festival, and all the other things that are happening. I think that location will work well for them because it is right off of the interstate."
Robin Bivens, director of the Lexington Tourism Authority, said the new hotel will increase funding for the organization. Lexington Tourism receives a majority of its funding from the state hotel occupancy tax.
She said the new hotel will provide a needed amenity as well as help support the local economy.
"It will have a positive impact on us from the economic standpoint," Bivens said. "We do not have enough hotel rooms and we have to send them to other communities. We would much rather keep them here."
Carson said the more nationally known establishments that can be recruited to the area, the more name-brand businesses will consider moving to Lexington.
"Just like with the Chick-Fil-A, once a hotel of the caliber of a Hampton Inn comes into a community it gets the interest of other businesses," Carson said. "I think something like this will put us on the map."
City officials said the location was selected due to the amount of traffic and proximity to other new commercial development as well as the direct access to Interstate 85.
MRI Motels currently owns and operates Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn hotels in the Southeast with a focus on developing in small markets with growing economies that were underserved by the existing number of hotels.
The company most recently opened a Hampton Inn and Suites in Forest City in December 2017 and Hampton Inn and Suites in Lenoir this year.
Sharon Myers can be reached at (336) 249-3981, ext. 228, or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow Sharon on Twitter: @LexDispatchSM
