Hampton Inn and Suites coming to Fort Mill
Hampton Inn and Suites will open behind Lowe’s Home Improvement off Hwy. 160 as soon as November 2014, said S.C. Rep. and area real estate developer Ralph Norman.
Norman, president of Rock Hill-based Warren Norman Co., said the six-story hotel will have 102 rooms and a larger-than-normal meeting space capable of holding between 125 and 150 people.
“It’s state of the art,” Norman said. “We did a lot of research to decide just what was needed.”
The company will begin taking bids for construction on Tuesday with construction beginning immediately, he added.
The hotel is expected to cost between $10 million and $13 million, a substantial commercial investment at a time when Fort Mill is largely seeing residential development, he added.
“This will be a chain reaction,” Norman said. “This will be the catalyst for other commercial projects.”
The Warren Norman Co. recently purchased a 12-acre piece of property near Harris Teeter on Hwy. 160 and more commercial development is planned for that area, he said. No concrete plans have been announced yet, Norman added, but he expected to make an announcement in 90 days.
“It’s the beginning of a lot of commercial things in Fort Mill. It’s not could it happen, it’s going to happen,” he said.
The Warren Norman Co. also developed the strip mall in front of Lowe’s Home Improvement, where Empire Pizza and Baxter’s Bunch are located. The combination of restaurants, retail and the hotel makes Fort Mill a “destination,” Norman said.
The township does have other hotels, all in the Carowinds area near I-77. There are none inside Fort Mill town limits, but this would be the closet, just minutes from downtown.
“It gives people an outlet and a choice. They don’t have to leave Fort Mill now,” Norman said. “They don’t have to go to Rock Hill or Charlotte. They can stay here, and overnight, and have their meetings here.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2013 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Hampton Inn and Suites coming to Fort Mill."