Construction on a hotel in Fondren needs approval from state officials, but could commence before the end of the year, according to the developer.
Plans call for a 100-room, four-story urban boutique-style Hampton Inn with an underground parking garage at the corner of Duling Avenue and Old Canton Road, which is now a vacant grassy lot near Babalu Tacos & Tapas.
Sunny Desai, president and chief-executive-officer of Desai Hotel Group in Jackson, said the design would be unique to the Hampton Inn chain and that the company is working with the Mississippi Department of History and Archives to approve the plans.
Mike Peters and his Fondren Place Development Co., which own the Fondren Corner Building, own the land for the proposed hotel.
"Because Fondren is so unique, (MDAH wants) to make sure everything fits," Desai told the Jackson Free Press this afternoon.
Desai added that the hotel would "look historic, yet modern" with a mostly brick exterior and a colorful interior in tune with the vibrancy of the Fondren, one of Jackson's arts districts.
Desai's company also recently finished renovating the Holiday Inn Express on High Street. That renovation included a complete inside and out renovation and the addition of a swimming pool.
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