Nearly all York County hotels are in Rock Hill or Fort Mill. New $17M project changes that
A new downtown hotel promises to revitalize another part of York County. But this one isn’t in Rock Hill or Fort Mill — it’s across from the county government center in York.
“It’s a $17 million investment in the heart of downtown,” said York Mayor Mike Fuesser.
Fuesser detailed a 98-room Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton plan for his city at a recent York County Regional Chamber of Commerce event. Construction should start this year on the South Congress Street hotel.
The project comes after a city-initiated study three years ago on hotels. “The numbers were that we needed hotels,” Fuesser said.
Visit York County lists 40 hotels on its website. All but three of them are in Rock Hill or Fort Mill. Many of those hotels were built in the past decade near Interstate 77. Or in the case of Rock Hill, they’ve come in downtown spots teeming with new business growth.
York has the Royal Inn motel on U.S. 321 Bypass and Deluxe Inn & Suites on Alexander Love Highway. Fuesser expected new hotel interest on those outer band highways, but understands why a downtown site makes sense.
It’s across South Congress Street from the government center, so it caters to people doing county business. Downtown York has become a day trip destination with new shops, and the city has a growing list of public events.
York also has more people with more money.
From 2022 to last year, York grew by 5.8%. Only Fort Mill grew by a higher rate (8.8%) among the 30 biggest municipalities in a nine-county Charlotte metro region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The city has grown by more than 15% the past decade.
Two years ago the city topped $50,000 in median household income. That number is up more than 70% in a decade. And the hotel project is one of a dozen big commercial sites the city has in progress or ready to build on, Fuesser said.
“As our city gets enriched, these commercial people will start looking,” he said.
Hotel site takes shape in York
The York hotel plan for the eastern corner of Congress and Jefferson streets involves several parcels, including the E.C. Black Building and former county elections offices. Three buildings will be demolished and three parcels combined for the three-story hotel.
City and county economic incentive efforts are ongoing. Some are based on property there being a former mill site. A developer would purchase 13 and 35 S. Congress St., along with 14 S. Roosevelt St., from the city.
The site is two blocks from the historic McCelvey Center.
It’s under renovation and the theater there can draw people to York, said city manager Dalton Pierce. Whether people come to shop downtown or meet with county officials across the street, they’ll have an option to stay longer.
“That kind of hotel right there is going to be something very different,” Pierce said. “We like people to stay in York when they’re doing business.”
