Columbus has 17 hotels. It’s gaining another.
A Holiday Inn Express will be located at 2000 Sixth Street North, according to developer Chico Patel, whose Pearl-based group, MY Hospitality, is behind the hotel. It will have 90 rooms.
Construction is slated to begin Aug. 1. The hotel will open June 1, 2016, according to Patel.
Don West, a broker with Coldwell Banker West Realty in Columbus, helped sell the 4.7 acres of land along Sixth Street North to Patel and his group. The deal closed Feb. 23. West is now working to sell about 2.5 acres of the property for Patel, who said another hotel or restaurant could locate there.
The entire property will eventually be cleared, according to West.
A Mississippi Development Authority report states there were about 57,006 hotel rooms in the state in 2013. Today, there are roughly 1,500 in Columbus, according to Nancy Carpenter, executive director of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Staying in Columbus, the Hardee’s at 1460 Old Aberdeen Rd. — in front of Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City — is looking to expand its dining room. Part of the plan includes installing a men’s and women’s restroom inside the fast food eatery, according to Kenny Wiegel, city building inspector. The restrooms are currently located on the south side of the building’s exterior. Formal plans have not yet been submitted to the city.
The city has received preliminary plans for a 5,000 square foot Renasant Bank branch to be built at the intersection of 18th Avenue North and Sixth Street North, according to Wiegel. The bank has not yet submitted an application for a construction permit to the city.
Over in Starkville, a Moe’s Southwest Grill is opening on Mississippi State University’s campus.
It will be located at the north end of Perry Hall, according to the university’s Division of Student Affairs, and Aramark, the campus food provider. It will open by the school’s fall semester.
Moe’s was founded 15 years ago in Atlanta. It is a fast-casual restaurant franchise serving a wide variety of fresh, made-to-order Southwest fare, according to its corporate website.
There are more than 550 Moe’s in the U.S. The closest one to the Golden Triangle is in Tuscaloosa, for now.
On MSU’s campus, Moe’s is taking the place of the State Fountain Bakery, which will relocate next door to the Colvard Student Union.
Browning on Business is a weekly column that runs each Thursday. We want your input. Send items and tips to [email protected] or [email protected].
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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