South Carolina Hotel Business Remains Strong; Student Housing Market Slows Down

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) recently announced the opening of the Holiday Inn Express Charleston Downtown–Ashley River following a multimillion dollar conversion. The 153-key downtown Charleston property recently underwent extensive renovation that included replacing all fixtures, equipment and furniture. Some of the hotel’s newest features include walkout balconies and granite countertops.

The eight-story asset is located at 146 Lockwood Blvd. Onsite amenities include a fitness center, outdoor pool, 24-hour business center, circa 700 square feet of meeting space and high-speed Wi-Fi. The property, franchised by an IHG affiliate, is owned by Charleston OPCO LLC and managed by Charlestowne Hotels.

Located next to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and just two miles away from Charleston’s historical district, Holiday Inn Express Charleston Downtown–Ashley River is the second Holiday Inn-branded hotel to open in the city in 2013 following the Holiday Inn Historic Charleston Downtown, which opened in January.

In other hospitality news, Paramount Lodging Advisors (PLA) announced brokering the sale of the 92-key Quality Inn and Suites in Spartanburg, S.C. The hotel advisory and brokerage firm represented seller LA3D LLC.

Located at 160 Simuel Rd., the 1998-built property, originally a Fairfield Inn, was converted in 2011 to a Quality Inn and Suites property.  Amenities include a fitness center, outdoor pool, business center, meeting space and conference center.

In other news, plans for the long-hyped 800-unit student housing projects slated to rise on the site of the old 320,000-square-foot Palmetto Compress warehouse have been scrapped. According to Student Housing Planet, Edwards Communities Development Co. informed Columbia city officials of its withdrawal from the plan after the Columbia Design/Development Review Commission denied the developer’s application in late 2012, this followed by a lawsuit by preservationists trying to prevent the building from being razed.

According to The State, Columbia’s city government may now buy the historic property and redevelop it as either residential or mixed-use.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Lodging Advisors via PRWeb