US: Plans are in the works for a new extended stay hotel in Mebane, North Carolina.
Griffin Stafford Hospitality, a company based in Charlotte that focuses on upper midscale hotels, has formulated plans to develop a Home2 Suites extended-stay hotel in Mebane on land that has already been zoned for hotel space. The plans call for an all-suite facility that can also be booked for nightly rentals.
The plans have not been approved by the city yet. Griffin Stafford Hospitality, which already owns two other hotels in Mebane, has spoken with Mebane mayor Ed Hooks and city manager Chris Rollins, with plans to also speak to planning director Cy Stober, about the company’s plan.
Doug Stafford, principal at Griffin Stafford Hospitality, said: “At some point here in the near future, we’ll be going before the elected officials and the planning board to seek any approvals that we need for the hotel. I’m hoping that we’ll get the approval that we need, just simply because it’s in line with the zoning.”
If the plans are approved, the Home2 Suites would be the second extended-stay property in Mebane, but the only one on its side of town.
The location was chosen because it is on what Stafford referred to as a “commercial demand generator,” due to the businesses, restaurants, and other facilities nearby.
Griffin Stafford Hospitality’s other Mebane properties: the Hampton Inn, which it renovated after purchase from Parks Hospitality in 2016, and Fairfield Inn & Suites, which it purchased in 2018, have both been met with great success on land designated as a “commercial demand generator”.
The company’s success in the area, as well as Mebane’s growth, have encouraged the company to expand. Stafford explained that plans for the Home2 Suites have been on the horizon for a few years.
Stafford said: “Mebane is a vibrant market, and the location is pretty exceptional – it’s located right there on Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 and it’s not often that a community has two interstates right there in its front yard. [There is] an excellent industrial base… Mebane has been blessed with significant growth in distribution centres, manufacturing and, in some cases, headquarters, so we saw all that. The quality of life there is exceptional as well, it’s hard to beat living and working in Mebane.”
If plans are approved, construction on the site is expected to begin within 18 months, although it may be sooner if pandemic recovery speeds up.
Stafford said: “Most of the recovery that we’re experiencing right now is because people are traveling for leisure purposes, having been locked up for a year or so, people are anxious to travel. But we’re also going to see some business travel return, as well. We think, as we get into the latter portion of 2021 and early portion of 2022, we’ll see a pretty robust increase in business travel.”
