Hotel plans proceed
Realization for two hotels by separate entities proposed for Outlet Drive are coming to light as Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved a zoning amendment for one and a concept plan for the other during its meeting Thursday, June 20.
Cox Universal Group, proposing to build a new Wyndham-brand ecoSuites hotel, received approval for its request to rezone 3.1 acres, formerly known as West Park Inn, west of Cotton Eyed Joe along Outlet Drive, from Regional Commercial (C-2) to Outlet Drive Regional Entertainment and Employment District (OD-RE/E).
“The applicant would like to construct a four-story hotel on the property,” Community Development director Mark Shipley said. “The OD-RE/E provides for a lower masonry percentage that would help make the project economically viable.
“For a building exceeding two stories and 25,000 square feet, the net façade area of the building must be at least 25 percent masonry,” he added. “In contrast, the C-2 District requires that the net façade area of the building must be at least 75 percent masonry.”
Shipley said the developers’ desire to build a hotel is consistent with the OD-RE/E District and “a hotel would help support the Town’s tourism program.”
Likewise, a new concept plan for Studio Res at Marriott got the green light as well.
A year-and-a-half ago, FMPC and BOMA approved a site plan for the previously branded Skor hotel, to be located beside Topgolf.
However, developers for the 4.34-acre property returned with a new plan.
“That old Skor brand kind of died … so we had to go find a different brand, and we like the Marriott products,” Bruce Collins, vice president of development and construction with Rosemont Holdings, said during a June 4 Town Staff/Planner meeting. “Everything they have on the market is a nice product.
“They call it an extended stay,” he added. “They also call it a residence inn. We look for the customers who are like seven- to 29-days stay.”
Originally, the hotel had 108 units, which is expanding to 124 units. “The hotel footprint is still the same,” Shipley said.
To accommodate the additional rooms, developers are planning for more parking spaces.
