Hilliard could gain three new hotels just west of Interstate 270 but more planning is required for each proposal, according to city officials.
Tru by Hilton has an application pending to build a four-story, 97-room hotel at 3950 Lyman Drive.
The application would approve a lot split and approve a sign package for the hotel in addition to permitting its construction.
The application, which is part of the Hilliard Planning and Zoning Commission's agenda for Thursday, April 12, is expected to be postponed until the commission's May 10 meeting, said John Talentino, Hilliard's city planner.
The proposed hotel would be built on the west side of the Hampton Inn & Suites at 3950 Lyman Drive, Talentino said. A lot split would create a new address for Tru by Hilton, he said.
"They are proposing a new driveway on Lyman Drive that may have impacts on turning movements and the through-movements of traffic on Lyman Drive and David Meeks Way," Talentino said. "There may need to be some revisions to the site layout."
Meanwhile, David Meadows, the city's economic-development director, said another hotelier – a competitor of the Hilton brands – is interested in building in the same area.
InterContinental Hotel Group, whose brands include Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, has submitted an application to the planning-and-zoning commission to build an Avid Hotel at the former McDonald's site at the northwest corner of Cemetery Road and Lyman Drive, Meadows said.
The application for the hotel is expected to be introduced May 10 to the planning-and-zoning commission, he said.
McDonald's closed its restaurant at Cemetery Road and Lyman Drive in 2014 and built a new site just to the west at Cemetery Road and Britton Parkway. The former site has been a vacant lot since then.
Yet another hotel – TownePlace Suites, a Marriott brand – has been proposed at the former JD Equipment site at 4079 Lyman Drive, farther north of the two freeway-based hotels.
Planning-and-zoning commission members were scheduled to consider a rezoning application and a lot split April 12. The applicant, Innsight Hospitality Group, is seeking to rezone the parcel to a planned-unit development.
A $12.6 million, 94-room TownePlace Suites would be built on about a third of the 5.6-acre lot and the remainder would be open for commercial development, Meadows said.
Libby Gierach, president and CEO of the Hilliard Area Chamber of Commerce, said she would welcome the new hotels.
"These are all worthwhile, quality projects that will attract people coming to central Ohio for events like the Arnold (Sports Festival), to stay in our area and visit our restaurants and other businesses," Gierach said.
Hilliard has four other hotels, all in the area east and west of I-270, she said.
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