THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150250
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
Chesapeake may have a reputation as a bedroom community but it's also trying to build one as a hotel and motel destination.
A 90-room Marriott Courtyard hotel is being built next to a cluster of moderately priced hotels: an Extended Stay, a Fairfield Inn, and a Comfort Suites, which front Interstate 64 near Greenbrier Parkway.
This latest hotel construction reinforces the growing interest shown by Hampton Roads developers, hoteliers and municipalities in capturing a bigger share of the business traveler population.
A Suburban Lodge, an extended stay hotel, went up farther down the road near Military Highway. Like the cluster of hotels off I-64, it would draw traffic from the Greenbrier Parkway retail corridor and benefit from a proposed conference center to be located nearby.
Plans are being made in other cities for new hotels, too.
Virginia Beach is talking to national companies involved in hotel convention center development and management.
Norfolk commissioned a study last October to explore building another downtown hotel.
Portsmouth is examining the possibility of adding another downtown hotel and building an adjoining convention center.
The developer of Harbor View in Suffolk is working with a national chain to build a hotel and shopping center at the first Interstate 664 interchange south of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge.
``Primarily these hotels which are being developed are geared toward the business traveler,'' Peter Abraham, a senior vice president at Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate, said of the budget hotels in Chesapeake's Greenbrier area.
HPD Associates, a local private ownership group affiliated with the Days Inn on Battlefield Boulevard, owns three of the properties - the 124-room Comfort Suites, the 105-room Fairfield Inn and the 90-room Marriott Courtyard hotel, which is being built, according to city real estate records. The Extended Stay hotel is part of a national chain.
``What's happening is a result of the commercial activity in the Greenbrier marketplace,'' Abraham said.
Greenbrier Mall and several strip shopping centers are located south of I-64 at Greenbrier Parkway, including the Crossways and the Crossroads, which features the area's first Target store.
Like a chemical chain reaction, residential growth in Chesapeake has fueled the rapid rise of retail outlets in the Greenbrier area, Abraham said. That retail spurt, in turn, has encouraged the location of offices and industrial warehouses nearby. As commerce has boomed and matured, more hotels are necessary to accommodate growing legions of corporate visitors doing business with Chesapeake-based firms.
``These are mainly business people traveling and making contacts with the major businesses we have in the area,'' said economic development director Don Goldberg, who pointed to Chesapeake-based firms like Mitsubishi that attract international visitors.
It makes sense for limited service hotels like the Marriott Courtyard, which usually doesn't offer conference rooms or restaurants inhouse, to locate near a retail center, said Chris Sanders, president of Armada/Hoffler Construction Co. for which hotel construction is a staple.
``The market is good right now for that kind of product, predominantly in Chesapeake because of the growth,'' Sanders said. ``The city is one of the hottest in Virginia. A lot of companies are being pulled into the area. Prospects who are looking at the area are also eating up hotel nights.''
Chesapeake's central location and proximity to the freeway network makes it more desirable as an overnight location, said Bill Garman of Garman-Chandler Commercial Inc.
``It's the demographic center of Hampton Roads,'' he said. ``It's between 464 and 264 so you can get anywhere from there quickly'' including the Norfolk International Airport. ILLUSTRATION: Vp Map