Plan Approved To Subdivide Old Quality Inn Site

The Cookeville Planning Commission approved a plan to subdivide the Quality Inn site on Jefferson Avenue for the construction of two new hotels.

The newest three-story section of Quality Inn will remain on a new plat of land carved out of 970 South Jefferson Avenue. The front section of the property will be demolished for a Hilton Home2 Suites. The back section had already been approved for a Super 8 motel.

“Going vertical with this development opens up a lot more of the surface area to install more property,” Planning Director Jon Ward said.

The five-story Hilton brand will feature some 101 rooms. Developer Nanu Patel said he has already secured the franchise agreement with Hilton. Home2 Suites by Hilton is an all-suite extended-stay hotel featuring contemporary rooms.

Demolition of the Quality Inn will begin in weeks. Construction will begin late this year. Patel said he expects the Hilton property to open in March, 2022.

The planning commission imposed a conditional arrangement that the demolition must begin before the end of the year for the subdivision of the acreage to take place.

The developer took an easement to Neal Street and created a roadway, including sidewalks, to serve the hotel properties. The planning commission approved the plat in November, 2019 for the Super 8.

In other business, the developer of a new 16-lot subdivision along Bunker Hill Road asked for a delay on a plat proposal. Ward said the developer continues to work on topograhic surveys on the land.

The board also gave six-month extensions to Highland Residential Services for its Oak Tree Towers development, an eight-unit development on East Spring Street, and the North Ridge Development at the corner of North Dixie Avenue and Kenway. Ward said there had been no development yet on the 18-lot North Ridge subdivision.