Exit 30 Hotel Update

Back in February, aShortChronicle broke the story about a possible new hotel at Exit 30 on the land next to Woodies Auto and across from the Community School of Davidson.

In recent weeks rumors began swirling again about the project.  While an official development application has not been posted on the town website, more information has been discovered in recent days.

In documenation provided by the town, it shows as recently as early April, developers were "contemplating a Hyatt Place hotel with full service roof top restaurant; likely five stories."  There was some question about whether or not the rooftop restaurant effectively made the building 6 stories, but the answer to that is unclear.  What is clear is that the initially discussed height of the building was well over 60 feet which would make it the tallest building in the immediate area.

IF the project does turn out to be a Hyatt Place, here is what one can expect based on information from the Hyatt Place brand guidelines website description.

"Created for multi-blenders with 24/7 lifestyles seeking an upscale select-service hotel, Hyatt Place is a new generation of hotels offering casual hospitality in a smartly designed, high-tech and modern environment."

The site goes on to say the hotels are typically 125-200 rooms and six stories.

In attempting to confirm more details aShortChronicle recently reached out to the developer, the hotel partner, and the town.

Developer Martin Kerr, said when asked about the number of rooms that it "generally" stuck to the number in a February press release.  That number was 120.  If that's turns out to be true, that would put this hotel on the low end of the Hyatt Place range.

Nishith Patel whose firm, Beacon IMG, is mentioned in the documentation was also contacted.  Beacon IMG is a hotel development firm and is behind the Homewood Suites also at Exit 30.  When asked if he had a comment for this story, Patel declined with the following statement. "Not at this time, we are still in the process of completing our application for the town."

Finally, Davidson Planning Director Jason Burdette said this about the project.  After qualifying that the town has a standard process for projects he said, "some of these projects continue, some do not. Those that do continue usually go through significant change before an application for development is officially submitted."  In a followup question Burdette did say if this project goes forward this plan would be "conditional" - meaning the Town Board would have to approve it.

Keep your eyes on this one.  It is sure to get interesting.