News

Upward Road development heats up

Bojangles, which just opened, will be joined by Holiday Inn Express, which is building an updated version and moving across Upward Road.

By Bill Moss, Published: March 3, 2015

A Bojangles has opened on Upward Road and the Holiday Inn Express is moving across the road to join it.

The business activity is the first tangible sign of interest in Hendersonville's eastern I-26 interchange now that the Upward Road widening is finished.
"Next to Bojangles we have about three-quarters of an acre that is still available," said Jude Crayton of Chelsea Real Estate Partners. "We've talked to a few people about it but nothing's really stuck yet. There's a lot of activity going on there."
The triangle-shaped parcel that remains might be a bit small for a full-sized restaurant but could accommodate a narrower building like a Cookout, he said. The developers originally had penciled in a bank in plans that were approved last year by the city.
"We contacted a few of the credit unions but didn't get too much traction there," Crayton said. "We could see that being some other kind of food use. We could do up to 3,500 square feet if you were just going to do an in-line building."
The owner is willing to lease the land, build to suit or sell the parcel outright, he added.
The next building activity on the site will most likely be the Holiday Inn Express, which is upgrading its facility and going from 65 to 85 rooms.
Construction should start "as soon as we get approval from IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) in Atlanta," manager Rick Sanborn said. "We can't do a thing until everybody says it looks right. We wanted to get started two months ago."
With its 10-year operating agreement expiring, the hotel needed to upgrade to the newest features of Holiday Inn Express. The new four-story version will add 20 guest rooms, an outdoor pool and a meeting room.
Owned by Rhodes Lodging Group, the land and 19-year-old building are assessed for tax reasons at $2.6 million. Sanborn said he expected the old building would be taken over by another hotel chain.