Chattanooga-based hotel development firm Vision Hospitality Group Inc. plans to build an 88-room Hampton Inn near the new Bass Pro Shops in East Ridge.
But in order for the new hotel to be built, an existing hotel there – the America’s Best Value Inn near Camp Jordan – will be torn down so its sewage capacity can be credited toward the new Hampton Inn, officials said Monday.
Vision Hospitality Group said the new hotel will be built on part of the 50-acre Jordan Crossing shopping center, at the entrance of Camp Jordan near Interstate 75’s Exit 1. Ultimately, Jordan Crossing is expected to include 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and hotel space. The retail center’s construction is subsidized through a Tennessee law meant to encourage retail development in towns just inside the state border.
The old hotel will have to go, because there’s a limit on sewer capacity on the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority (WWTA)-managed sewer system in the area of East Ridge around Exit 1.
“The new [hotel] is going to be essentially right next door to where the old one currently is,” East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert said. “Once that is underway, in order to satisfy sewer credits, they will take the old one down. The WWTA has approved the sewer tie-on with the caveat that the old hotel has to be down before the new one can begin operating.”