Plant City’s Hampton Inn is expected to be open between March and April of this year.
Drivers traveling along Interstate 4 will soon have a new place to rest and relax off of Exit 19.
Construction of the Hampton Inn and Suites at 2702 Thonotosassa Road is expected to wrap up around March. According to developers, it will be open for business between March and April of this year.
“All the construction will finish about 30 days prior,” Manager Andrew Bou-Silman said. “In the last 30 days, our team is in there getting everything guest-ready.”
David and Edie Henderson, of the Lakeland-based Henderson Properties, own the hotel. Naples Hotel Group, where Bou-Sliman serves as vice president of acquisitions and development, will manage the hotel’s day-to-day operations and has overseen its development.
The hotel is the third piece of Plant City property developed by the Hendersons, who also built the nearby Starbucks and Wawa Inc. stores on Thonotosassa Road. The latter opened just over two years ago in December 2014. Starbucks was a decade before that. Since then, business in the area has seen a surge.
“I did Starbucks 10 years ago,” David Henderson said. “So, I’m very familiar with that intersection and how well that Starbucks has performed over the years.”
The $7 million Hampton Inn job began in 2015 and covers 49,900 square feet on 1.66 acres of land. The hotel will have 89 guest rooms, including 87 standard rooms and two suites, as well as a 500 square-foot meeting room, an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center for guests and an in-house, coin-operated laundry facility. All guests are also welcome to free Wi-Fi and complimentary breakfast. The new lodging facility is expected to create about 24 permanent jobs and will feature an 89-space parking lot. One entrance and exit will lead to the hotel.
Henderson chose the location due to the performance of the nearby Starbucks and Wawa stores, and because a hotel was the one thing that the intersection — which is close to several nationally-known chain restaurants, including Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill — seemed to need.
“There were no hotels at that exit,” David Henderson said. “That’s where everybody wants to get off, because that’s where all the national restaurants are.”
Though Henderson Properties is based out of Lakeland, the couple is involved in Plant City’s business scene. David Henderson has gotten involved with Visit Plant City, formerly the Tourism Task Force, which is focused on driving tourism into town. David Henderson is hopeful that tourists will gravitate toward the new hotel once its completed.
“I think that the current administration is pro-growth of the right sort,” David Henderson said. “They’re trying to attract the right kind of businesses, and I’d like to participate in that.”
Bou-Sliman and Naples Hotel Group also manage Hampton locations in the Orlando area, and have built locations in Naples and Estero.
“Hampton has very loyal customers, so we expect to see them in our hotel,” Bou-Sliman said.
But this location will have an added bit of Plant City charm. Two photos will hang in the hotel’s lobby, courtesy of the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center. The first will be of a marching band in Historic Downtown, and the second will be of the Robert W. Willaford train depot.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
