HARTSVILLE — Site work in preparation for the construction of a new $8 million to $12 million hotel in downtown Hartsville is expected to begin about mid-August, the president of the company building the facility said.
Officials with Stridor Hotels — which plans to build a four-story, 73-room Hampton Inn & Suites in the Vista area on Railroad Avenue and Fourth Street — recently closed on a land transfer deal with the city of Hartsville conveying a three-acre tract in the Vista development area to the company in exchange for a three-acre piece of property at Fourth Street and the U.S. 15 Bypass.
D.J. Desai, president of the Beaufort-based Stridor Hotels, said the company hopes to complete the construction project about July 2010.
“This is exciting,” Hartsville Mayor Michael Holt said. “We’ve been working on this for a long time. This will play into what we’re trying to do with our downtown: make it a place for arts, festivals and similar activities.”
Holt said he thinks the new hotel will help generate additional future development in the downtown area.
“I think with this as an anchor, it will help set the tone for future growth,” he said.
Hartsville City Manager Dr. Jim Pennington said the project has taken more than two years to get to this stage.
“The biggest problem was the obstacles that had to be overcome,” he said.
Negotiations with Stridor have been ongoing for more than a year, officials said.
Desai said Hartsville offers the type of market the hotel company was looking for, and he praised the efforts of city officials in bringing the project to this point. He said Hartsville is a good match for the company.
“Initially, we were looking at different markets. We started looking at Hartsville and we began to realize what this area has to offer — its schools, the college, its industry and other things,” Desai said.
He said the company saw Hartsville as an underserved smaller market.
“We talked with people with the city, and it was clear they wanted us here. They really made us feel like this was the place we wanted to be, and it is,” Desai said.
As part of the project, the former S.C. Central Railroad Office at East Carolina Avenue and Fourth Street will be demolished to make room for a restaurant on the site, Desai said.
The building houses city planning and development offices. City officials have begun moving out of the building. Desai said demolition should begin before the end of July.
He said Stridor is negotiating with two national restaurant franchises to put a restaurant on the site. He declined to identify the chains, but said one is a steakhouse chain while the other is a more upscale restaurant chain.
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