Downtown hotel, men's shelter on horizon for Jackson development
Tuesday's city council meeting entailed updates on the newest hotel coming downtown, a guaranteed maximum price budget for the men's homeless shelter, and extensive public commentary voicing unanimous opposition to rezoning a residential area in northwest Jackson.
Residential rezoning
Property on the corner of McLellan Road and Pleasant Plains Road is currently zoned RS-1 (Single Family). Consideration to rezone the approximately 2.96 acres to O-C (Office Center) was met with strong pushback from area residents.
Twelve residents, some of whom have lived in the area for decades, expressed concerns over increased traffic congestion, future rezoning efforts, negatively impacted property values, and a communal desire to preserve the residential area as is.
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In recent years, previous recommendations to rezone the property ultimately failed.
"This has come through at least two times before and both times it was rejected," said Stan Pilant, City Planner.
Dot Cupples has lived about a mile from the rezoning area for over 30 years and noted that the current infrastructure can't support it.
"We have schools, we have churches, that's all we want, that's all we need, that's all our infrastructure can handle," she said.
"We're not equipped to handle the traffic that we currently have, let alone anymore."
Echoing similar sentiments was Steve Spurlin.
Spurlin is president of the Home Owners Association (HOA) for the Cherry Hill Place neighborhood, located about one and a half miles from the rezoning area.
He warned the council that, if rezoned for commercial use, the "already overburdened" intersection would produce traffic comparable to that of Vann Drive.
"I don't think it's the role of the public or the council to ensure a developer who buys a property skeptically, should be ensured to turn maximum profit," he said.
Upon time to vote, councilmember J.P. Stovall (District 1) presented a stack of 47 emails he received in opposition to the rezoning.
The council voted 8-1 in opposition to the rezoning measure.
Triangle Hotel Project to bring downtown hotel
Sitting between the former Jackson Sun building and Hub City Brewing, the triangular-shaped patch of land on West Lafayette Street and West Main Street is soon to be a hotel.
Two years ago, the city sent a Request For Proposals (RFP) for the city-owned land to be developed. Jackson Hospitality LLC was the sole response.
The eight-story hotel will offer 140 rooms and parking underneath the facility with an expected project cost of between $22 and $27 million.
The land is appraised at $315,000 and, as it stands currently, is costing the city money to maintain.
"Right now that piece of property is all expense, no revenue for us," Mayor Scott Conger said.
"We actually pay our employees to maintain the property."
The council unanimously approved the project development agreement.
Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2025 at the same time as the resurfacing of Airways Blvd.
Men's shelter budget discussed
Intentionally chosen to be near several resources like Area Relief Ministries (ARM) and Regional Inter-Faith Association (RIFA), the shelter on McCorry Street will be at the center of support services and the first in Jackson in 25 years.
Henson Construction Services is tasked with its construction, and at Tuesday's meeting, the council voted to approve a guaranteed maximum budget of $3.4 million.
Sarah Best is a reporter for The Jackson Sun. To support local journalism, subscribe to the Daily Briefing here.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Rezoning, men's shelter and downtown hotel face Jackson council
