Cambria Hotel (Old HBJ Lot)

[Sparkleman]

I heard from a very good source that across from the MB, a new hotel is going to go up on the old Hammond Brown Jennings property.

It will not be an Aloft but something similar as this is a small lot

We shall see if this pans out but the info comes from way up the ladder.

[roads-scholar]

2 hours ago, Sparkleman said:

I heard from a very good source that across from the MB, a new hotel is going to go up on the old Hammond Brown Jennings property.

It will not be an Aloft but something similar as this is a small lot

We shall see if this pans out but the info comes from way up the ladder.

If true, this is exciting news.   That lot is begging for something prominent.    

2 hours ago, Sparkleman said:

I heard from a very good source that across from the MB, a new hotel is going to go up on the old Hammond Brown Jennings property.

It will not be an Aloft but something similar as this is a small lot

We shall see if this pans out but the info comes from way up the ladder.

 

[hub-city]

That could be awesome!  Hope it comes to fruition.

[Spartanburg Dude]

6 hours ago, Sparkleman said:

I heard from a very good source that across from the MB, a new hotel is going to go up on the old Hammond Brown Jennings property.

 It will not be an Aloft but something similar as this is a small lot

We shall see if this pans out but the info comes from way up the ladder.

Where is this?

[westsider28]

12 minutes ago, Spartanburg Dude said:

Where is this?

Across Saint John from the Montgomery Building.  See below (I assume the corner parcel is included; it has a different owner from the other 2, which are bank-owned).

Interesting that a hotel may now be planned for this site (office was once rumored).  Are Gibbs/Cajka going to be beaten to the punch again? (unless this is them...)  I think 3 hotels is probably max capacity for downtown for the foreseeable future (barring a major job announcement).

Hope we hear more soon.  @Sparkleman did your source mention any timeline?

[spartanburgh]

That would be an awesome development! I think if they do an aloft or similar it would still leave the door open

for a Hampton Inn & Suites or similar brand.  I have always thought that site should have a building with a similar

height as the Montgomery Building.

[Sparkleman]

All I know is that it has an  Italian sounding name but my guy can't put his finger on the actual name. Will ask again.

[Spartanburg Dude]

Super exciting! That corner needs a good sized (height) building. Stoked to hear more!

[westsider28]

I would love something MB-height here, but I'd suspect an Aloft-type hotel to be in the 5-6 floor range.

As far as (Italian-sounding) brands, maybe: Canopy or Curio (Hilton), Moxy (Marriott), Centric (Hyatt), Hotel Indigo (IHG), Dolce or Tryp (Wyndham)?  I honestly hope it's non-Marriott, just for variety.

I hope this happens.  IMO, this corner is key to connecting the MB (and Marriott) to the heart of downtown.

Edited August 31, 2018 by westsider28
More brand guesses

[Spartan]

I wouldn't be surprised if there's just more demand for hotel space downtown in general. It's really becoming a special place, and there are probably enough businesses in the County that would want to impress clients by putting them up in a downtown hotel rather than out by I-85. Just guessing though.

Either way, I'll be interested to see how they deal with parking on that site. Maybe it will be a boutique hotel with just a few rooms.

[spartanburgh]

The office building that was proposed there had a relatively small four story parking deck on the back of the building.  They could also connect to the parking deck  via a

pedestrian bridge. The site is also large enough to put parking under the hotel.

[Sparkleman]

The hotel brand will be Cambria which is a pretty cool brand from Choice and pretty upscale. There is one in Asheville (see link below) and my guy who is closing the deal said it will be  between 5-7 stories.

The buyer of the the 3 properties that WS28 showed above is forking 1.5 mil for the 1 acre property and is getting no tax help from city per deal city gave OTO/GDJ saying it would be 3 years before they did that again which sent Gibbs and crew through roof.  Anyway the demand appears to be there but its not a done deal yet. The back of the property is slightly contaminated from that old Chevron station that was there forever. It seems that one of the underground tanks had leaked some gas over the years and it made its way to the HBJ site. The lawyers have found a way around it and its nothing like what is over at Gas Bottom.

https://www.cambriadowntownasheville.com/en-us

 

 

Edited August 31, 2018 by Sparkleman

[westsider28]

Drove by the site today, and there were EAS Professionals (engineering & surveying company) trucks and personnel there.    Good to see early signs of activity.

[spartanburgh]

This  project along with the 200 apartments, the Montgomery Building,  and Gibbs office building ( if he ever does anything) will shift the momentum

of Downtown development form the West to the North.  Anticipating the renderings and hoping for a quick start.

[westsider28]

Saw several small piles of dirt on-site today, which is the tell-tale sign that soil sample drilling was done.  Yet another step forward.

(Also the NAI Earle Furman signs on-site now say "Sold", so that's official. Online GIS and property records haven't been updated yet, though.)

[westsider28]

GIS has been updated! The 3 parcels at this corner were purchased by NIAM I LLC.  The registered agent for that LLC is Suraj Mistry, who works at Alliant Asset Management.  And on his LinkedIn page, he has "liked" a few articles about Cambria hotels...

(According to GIS, corner lot was purchased for $650k, top right lot $800k, bottom lot $800k)

Edited October 4, 2018 by westsider28

[roads-scholar]

3 hours ago, westsider28 said:

GIS has been updated! The 3 parcels at this corner were purchased by NIAM I LLC.  The registered agent for that LLC is Suraj Mistry, who works at Alliant Asset Management.  And on his LinkedIn page, he has "liked" a few articles about Cambria hotels...

(According to GIS, corner lot was purchased for $650k, top right lot $800k, bottom lot $800k)

That's a lot of money.  Something BIG is going to be built. 

[mainonmain]

$2.2 million for that dirt is going to reset downtown property values in a significant way.

And I think we're looking at something in the 6-7 story, 80-room range. With ground-floor restaurant/retail.

Edited October 5, 2018 by mainonmain

[Spartanburg Dude]

8 hours ago, mainonmain said:

$2.2 million for that dirt is going to reset downtown property values in a significant way.

And I think we're looking at something in the 6-7 story, 80-room range. With ground-floor restaurant/retail.

That would be great. I'd love to see that side of downtown become more "connected" to the square... with people walking back and fourth, some side walk dining etc...

 

[spartanburgh]

Its likely that they paid 1,450,000 not 2,250,000. When properties are purchased together and combined, the full amount

of purchase is shown for each property. The corner lot was purchased from a different owner than Author State. That said,

1,450,000 is still a significant amount for a 100 room hotel. 14500 per key is a lot.  Hopefully, we'll see a significant structure

that will spread those costs, making the land purchase more palatable.

[westsider28]

This project will be appearing before the DRB for preliminary review and comment at their November 6 meeting!  The applicant is from Seamon Whiteside on behalf of the owner.  Can't wait to see what this building could look like!

[westsider28]

Here it is!  Six-story Cambria hotel; 119 rooms; lobby bar & bistro; projected to begin early-Spring 2019 with completion in 2020.

[roads-scholar]

16 minutes ago, westsider28 said:

Here it is!  Six-story Cambria hotel; 119 rooms; lobby bar & bistro; projected to begin early-Spring 2019 with completion in 2020.

119 rooms! 

I’m thrilled.  

[Spartanburg Dude]

Not 100% in love with the text book modern, but anything is better than an empty lot, so I guess... Welcome to Spartanburg Cambria!

 

[Historyguy]

The Herald Journal finally reports on the story...

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20181101/developer-plans-major-downtown-hotel-project