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Tag: Hilton Home 2 Suites

  • PC, BAR approve COA for hotel

    Hilton Home 2 Suites coming to Blythewood.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Third time was the charm for representatives of the Hilton Home 2 Suites who appeared before the Planning Commission Monday night requesting approval of a site plan for a four-story, 88-bed hotel they hope to construct on a 1.93 acre lot between I-77 and San Jose’s restaurant.

    While serious concern was expressed by commissioners about the hotel’s lack of a direct access to Creech Road and the traffic impact the hotel would generate in an already traffic-challenged intersection at Creech and Blythewood Roads, the plan was approved 4 – 1 with Commissioner Marcus Taylor voting against.

    Ed Parler, Blythewood’s economic development consultant, spoke up for the project saying it fits with the overall plan for the town.

    “The hotel is the highest and best use for this piece of property,” Parler said. “There are no property taxes [in Blythewood], so bringing hospitality taxes, accommodation and sales taxes and state share value revenue means it will be the highest economic benefit for Blythewood.”

    Parler further cited the traffic study that was initially requested by the Planning Commission and initiated by engineer Roger Dyar on behalf of Carter Engineering, as of low significance.

    Based on the review of the site and Dyar’s analysis, he concluded that: the site will produce 496 additional trips per day; that the overall effects on the peak hour traffic flow would be minimal and that traffic flow should be acceptable at the proposed access point onto Creech Road.  At this location, all exiting traffic will make a right turn and then make a u-turn at some point to the south on Creech Road.

    The study also recommended that a triangular island be constructed at the access point onto Creech Road to force all exits to be right turns.

    Dyar said the details of this design will be handled by the site civil engineer and will need to comply with SCDOT Access and Roadside Management Standards and Highway Design Manual standards.

    “I think Paragon [the hotel’s parent company] has done everything they could to make the intersection as good as they can,” civil engineer Jeff Carter of Georgia-based Carter Engineering Consultants said.

    Tome Morgan, the project architect, said he expects construction to take 9 to 14 months.

    Paragon hotel company owner Ricky Patel said the hotel will create 16 full time jobs and six part time jobs.

    Immediately following the Planning Commission meeting, the Blythewood Architectural Board (BAR) met to consider a request from the hotel’s representatives for a Certificate of Appropriateness.

    Morgan displayed the elevation plans for the project and discussed material selections with the Board.

    Morgan said the two prototype renderings of a modern design that Home 2 used elsewhere are stark and use hardy board architecture.

    “I did not think they would be well received in a place like Blythewood where citizens care about architecture,” Morgan said. “Instead, we have designed a building covered with Cherokee moss town brick with a pewter colored mortar, hardy board and hardy shake shingles with dark bronze colored metal around the windows,” Morgan explained. “The rich colors create a three-tier approach as opposed to the modern look.”

    A feature that seemed to please the commission is a fence between the hotel and the interstate made with brick columns and wrought iron connecting sections.

    While Blythewood’s architectural advisor Ralph Walden said the building was well designed with nice features and more interest than the two neighboring buildings, he suggested replacing the hardy plank shakes with a darker brick than the moss town brick.

    The motion to approve a COA with changing the hardy shakes to a darker accent brink and to bring the brick up to the top of the first floor passed unanimously.

    Town Administrator Brian Cook explained that the approval would be conditioned by staff approval of a final landscaping plan and any required engineering specifics, the inclusion of a fence along the I-77 ramp and Blythewood Road, signage options and by subsequent approval of SCDOT, SCDHEC and Richland County, water/sewer provider and any other applicable reviewing entity.

  • Hotel vote set for Sept. 17

    BLYTHEWOOD – After not receiving a vote from the planning commission last week for lack of a quorum of commission members, representatives of Hilton Hotel’s Home 2 Suites will have another go at it on Monday evening.

    The hotel chain is seeking the commission’s approval to situate a hotel on a 1.93-acre parcel located behind San Jose’s restaurant and adjacent to I-77. The building is proposed to be four stories with 88 beds.

    The representatives must also meet with the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) before they can receive a Certificate of Occupancy. To eliminate an extra trip, Town Hall arranged for them to meet with both boards on Sept. 17. The BAR will meet at 6 p.m. and the planning commission at 7 p.m. at the Manor.

    The request first came before the commission in early August but was deferred by the commission until the September meeting so the commissioners’ concerns regarding what they considered problematic traffic access to the hotel off Blythewood Road could be resolved.

    Town Administrator Brian Cook said last month that Town Hall staff had been working with SCDOT on the issue and that SCDOT had conditionally granted access to the site using SCDOT’s right of way.

    While those attending the Tuesday evening meeting were waiting for enough planning commissioners to arrive for a quorum, engineer Jeff Carter, representing the hotel chain, reviewed for the commissioners the conclusions of a traffic study conducted by Seneca engineer Roger Dyar which stated that the overall effects on the peak hour traffic flow on the hotel access are minimal.

    The report recommended that the proposed site’s access plan should be approved since the increase in traffic will result in only very minor additions to delays and queues in the study network.

  • Hilton’s Home 2 Suites eyes Blythewood site

    A new hotel brings site plans to Blythewood Planning commission.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Hilton Hotel’s Home 2 Suites is considering putting down roots in Blythewood. The hotel’s owners are seeking permission from the Town to build a four-story, 88-bed hotel building on a 1.93 acre vacant lot adjacent to the I-77 ramp. But without considerable adjustments to the entrance to the property, the 55,672 square foot building would have no direct access to Creech Road.

    The parcel is tucked between I-77, the Holiday Inn Express & Suite, Hardees and San Jose’s Mexican restaurant. A site map shows access to the parcel off Creech Road across from the west side of the Sharpe BP Service Station.

    But that access doesn’t meet SCDOT standards.

    Civil Engineer Jeff Carter, of Georgia-based Carter Engineering Consultants, presented Paragon Hotels’ plans to the Blythewood Planning Commission Mon­day night.

    Consensus of the Commission members was that it is a good project for Blythewood but the access is problematic.

    Commission Chair Donald Brock ad­dressed the lack of a traffic study and said traffic access to the site presents problems.

    “Ingress and egress to the site is a prob­lem,” he said. “I see that the right-in and right-out onto Creech Road is going to send everyone down a dead end street. What are drivers supposed to do when they get there and have no place to go?” Brock asked.

    Town Administrator Brian Cook said staff has been working with SCDOT on this issue, and that SCDOT has conditionally granted access to the site using SCDOT’s right-of-way.

    “The existing service road would have to be removed and replaced to enable two-way traffic,” Cook told the commissioners. “The access road would need to be a mini­mum of 24’ wide with an appropriately designed connection to Creech Road so as not to negatively impact Creech Road or Blythewood Road which is directly adja­cent,” Cook said.

    Cook said the design would need to in­clude proper radii and an approximate median enforcement to satisfy the SCDOT requirement that this access be a right-in, right-out due to the proximity to Bly­thewood Road.

    Carter expressed his concern that even after doing a traffic study the options would still be very limited and driven by what SCDOT would allow. He said he felt that the developer would agree to install­ing a turnaround at the end of Creech Road where it dead ends.

    Councilman Rick McKenrick asked Carter whether the hotel owners were considering buying additional lots around the site to improve the traffic pattern. Carter said he felt they are still considering that possibility.

    Councilman Marcus Taylor cited the ex­treme traffic problems that already exist on Blythewood Road during high traffic times and said this would significantly add to the problem.

    After lengthy debate and persistent ad­monition by Brock that even conditional approval would not be the best way to proceed, a motion was made to defer the agenda item until the Sept. 4 Planning Commission meeting. The motion was seconded and all council members voted in favor of deferral.

    Cook told the commissioners that he would continue to work with SCDOT and the engineers to address the traffic pattern concerns.

    Blythewood Consultant Michael Criss announced that his services to the Town would end on Aug. 31, 2018 and expressed that he had enjoyed working with the Commission members.