A new hotel is coming to Hempfield.
Developers Millcraft Hospitality of Washington bought a lot on Route 30 between Hempfield Plaza and Mountain View Lake for $462,600 in November. They now plan to build a Tru hotel with between 84 and 98 rooms, according to Marcus Piatt, president of Millcraft's hotel division.
"We saw an opportunity there. We liked the location of the piece of land that we purchased," he said.
Hempfield Township supervisors have approved a site plan for the project.
Millcraft will manage the hotel when it is done.
Tru is a fairly new brand, owned by Hilton.
Rooms usually cost about $100 a night, which will allow the new hotel to compete with the neighboring Courtyard Marriott and Holiday Inn Express, Piatt said.
"We thought the mid-scale segment's not really being represented in that market," he said.
Millcraft hasn't set a start date for construction. It's keeping an eye on the hotel market, which has recently seen a surge of new construction.
Demand for hotels is going up, but supply is growing faster, Piatt said.
"Right now, we're not in a hurry to build, we're kind of sitting on the land. We're looking at breaking ground within the next year," he said.
Once construction begins, it will take nine months to a year to finish.
The completed hotel will create about 15 full-time jobs, supplemented by eight to 10 part-time positions, Piatt said.
George Reese, Hempfield's chairman supervisor, said local leaders are excited about the project.
"I think it's an excellent idea," he said. "Having another hotel in that general area enhances Route 30. That corridor... is just going to grow."
The hotel coincides with the recent announcement of an Allegheny Health Network "micro-hospital" that will be built just up the street.
Millcraft operates five other hotels in Western Pennsylvania, including the new Hampton Inn & Suites North Huntingdon-Irwin near the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.
