Developer changes plans for extended-stay hotel behind Blue Ridge Mall

A developer based in Tennessee still has plans for an extended-stay hotel behind the Blue Ridge Mall, but those plans will not be up for approval by the Hendersonville City Planning Board until its July meeting.

Tyler Morrow, a planner with Hendersonville's Community Development Department, told the Times-News on May 13 that the developer is "working through alternative designs from what had been previously shown."

"I have been told by the developer that the new design will take into account comments heard from neighbors," Morrow said. "The developers did not resubmit their plans prior to the deadline, so they will not be on the June planning board meeting. I am unsure which future meeting they will be aiming to be on."

When the developer, Philip Cox of Mitch Cox Companies in Johnson City, Tennessee, first announced plans for the hotel, neighbors behind the mall voiced concerns at a neighborhood compatibility meeting. According to the initial site plan, the extended-stay hotel would be four stories and 51,463 square feet with 124 rooms.

The extended-stay hotel would be an ECHO Suites Wyndham Hotels & Resorts brand, Cox said, and would be the first for Hendersonville. Cox said he and his staff took interest in the site after they got a call about a year ago from the Blue Ridge Mall Development Group, which is based out of Augusta, Georgia, he said.

The mall and the 1.4-acre site for the hotel is owned by James Hull Jr.

After hearing concerns from neighbors at the compatibility meeting, Cox said the area behind the mall would eventually be developed in the future, if not by his team, then by someone else.

"This is the commercial corridor. That piece of property is going to get developed," Cox said during the meeting. This is your opportunity to work with the developers."

Calls seeking comments from Cox weren't returned on May 13.

More: Extended-stay, 4-story 124-room hotel proposed behind Hendersonville's Blue Ridge Mall

More: Developer of Wyndham extended-stay hotel behind Blue Ridge Mall hears from residents

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Plans being changed for extended-stay hotel behind Blue Ridge Mall