A busy interchange on the cusp of Spartanburg County’s booming Boiling Springs community should have been a magnet for development.
Very little growth, however, has materialized on the southern side of Exit 75 at the juncture of Interstate 85 and Highway 9 since the I-85 bypass opened in 1995.
But Spartanburg’s new momentum coupled with the renovation and rebranding of a hotel near the southeast corner of the intersection could pique the interest of investors, local leaders said.
“The growth of Boiling Springs has been phenomenal,” said Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt. “Companies and developers look at numbers. And the numbers are certainly there.” As Spartanburg grows in that direction, it could become a hotbed for new restaurants, retail, or office development, Britt said.
The tide changed in January 2017 when Simpsonville-based Palmetto State Hospitality (PSH) acquired the former America’s Best Value Inn at 125 Sloane Garden Road.
Originally opened in 2000 as a Fairfield Inn, the six-story, nearly 35,000-square-foot hotel has changed hands a few times throughout the years, but has never really made much of an impact on the local economy.
The hotel sits on almost 1 acre that is surrounded by about 15 acres of undeveloped land.
PSH shuttered the hotel in October to begin renovating it.
Except for the few cars that use Sloane Garden Road, which is a quarter-mile frontage road that connects Highway 9 and Parris Bridge Road, as a pass-through, the move was largely unnoticed.
PSH is nearing the end of its nearly $3 million overhaul of the 66-room hotel. It will reopen the property as the county’s first Best Western Plus later this month.
“We knew it could be a lot more than it was,” said Derrick Norris, who co-owns the hotel with Upstate hotel developer and PSH’s founder Harishyam Singh.
Norris said he and Singh, who also owns the Comfort Suites near WestGate Mall, began looking into buying the Boiling Springs property a few years ago. They were finally able to make contact with the hotel’s previous owner, who was out of state and made them an offer.
“The Best Western Plus concept really caught our eye,” Norris said. “It’s very hip. Very modern. … Spartanburg’s tourism market is really growing. There are several colleges nearby. The area is increasingly becoming a destination for youth sports events. Despite the current work being done on I-85, I think we’re in a great position to serve business and leisure travelers. It’s very exciting.”
The exterior of the hotel sports new stonework, window casings, a new roof, refurbished pool area, and a soon-to-be repaved parking lot.
The hotel’s interior features modern furnishings and accents, LED lighting, wireless internet, new fiber optic cabling, and more.
A 10-seat boardroom will enable guests to hold meetings and make presentations on a 55-inch screen.
Guests will be able to enjoy a hot breakfast in a new dining area.
The hotel has a fitness center with treadmills, a stationary bike, an elliptical machine, free weights, and a yoga station.
Gone are the original Jacuzzi-style bathtubs that used to take up valuable space in the hotel’s suites. Each room has been given a clean, contemporary look and feel.
Throughout the hotel, the owners have tried to incorporate local flavor, including Spartanburg-based Milliken & Co. carpeting and new windows from Spartanburg’s Kapasi Glass Mart.
Norris said he expects the hotel will create 16 to 18 jobs. It has begun booking customers for March 20.
Spartanburg’s Creal Family Limited Partnership owns most of the vacant land surrounding the hotel along Sloane Garden Road.
A Northern Tool and Equipment store is situated at the eastern end of the thoroughfare. A Denny’s diner and Abbott Farms market occupy the western end.
All three businesses moved in after the hotel opened.
In contrast, the northern side of the exit has evolved into a beachhead for an explosion of new businesses that run almost contiguously along the nearly 4-mile stretch of Highway 9 between the interstate and the heart of Boiling Springs.
Spartanburg developer Royce Camp, who built the hotel in partnership with the late Tim Cantrell, still owns a nearly 1-acre lot beside it.
“We thought that area would really catch fire, but it never did,” Camp said.
Camp has focused most of his development efforts on interests in downtown Spartanburg during the past few years. He said he hopes to sell the Boiling Springs property beside the hotel.
He has considered building a small strip center on the site that could house amenities for hotel guests, such as a Starbucks and other restaurants or retail shops.
“I go out there and I brush hog around my sign every year,” he said. “I think it still has a lot of potential. … I hope the new owners of the hotel will do well and their renovation will trigger more investment.”
While it’s no Hyatt, Hilton, or AC Hotel, Spartanburg’s Best Western Plus is ready to claim its share of the market in a county that is in sore need of quality hotel rooms.
And it just might attract some new opportunities to an area that has been devoid of development for many years.
