Ground Breaks on $115M Hotel in Charlotte

By Barbra Murray

The Kessler Collection breaks ground on Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte

Ground has broken on Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte, a 254-key hotel that will take shape in the bustling Uptown submarket of Charlotte, N.C. The Kessler Collection, the hotel developer and manager behind the Grand Bohemian brand, will deliver the luxury lodging property at a cost of approximately $115 million.

Kessler is expanding its footprint in the Southeast and, as Richard Kessler, chairman & CEO of The Kessler Collection, said in a prepared statement, “The [Charlotte] destination fits very nicely into our collection of hotels.” The company’s portfolio in the Carolinas currently encompasses Grand Bohemian Asheville and Grand Bohemian Charleston.

Located at 201 Trade St., Grand Bohemian Charlotte will sprout up on a .6-acre site that Kessler picked up for $3 million in 2015. The property will feature such upscale accommodations as a signature spa and a rooftop bar.  With JE Dunn Construction Group aboard the project as general contractor, the hotel is on track to swing open its doors to guests in 2020.

New additions

Kessler was joined at the recent Grand Bohemian Charlotte groundbreaking ceremony by state and local dignitaries alike. The hotel is a welcome undertaking in Charlotte—as are the bevy of new lodging projects underway and in the works. Hilton expects to complete development of the 219-key, dual-branded Hampton Inn & Suites/Tru by Hilton Charlotte Airport Lakepointe in the fourth quarter of this year. Foundation for the Carolinas plans to open an Intercontinental Hotel atop the theater space at the historic Carolina Theatre at Belk Place. And the list goes on.

According to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, 17 properties will debut in Charlotte in 2018. The approximately 1,900 keys will be part of the total 17,600 new guestrooms due to come online through 2020. The numbers are adding up; however, concerns over the potential oversaturation of the city’s hotel market may be unfounded. 

“It is important to note that while roughly half [the projects] are currently either under construction or in the active planning phases, the more speculative projects may take several years to come to fruition,” according to research by hotel consulting firm HVS. “A key consideration is that much of the new hotel supply will enter submarkets such as Southwest Charlotte, Uptown, South End, SouthPark and Ballantyne, which are experiencing a simultaneous increase in office and residential developments. As such, the anticipated demand growth should absorb a moderate portion of the additional guestroom inventory.”

Image courtesy of The Kessler Collection