Community News

More hotels set for town

As seen in The Braselton News

Article by Kerri Testement

More hotels may be rising in Braselton, as plans have been submitted for two hotels near GA Hwy 53 and I-85.

Duke Realty Limited Partnership recently submitted plans to the town asking that 29.28 acres at tits "Park 85 at Braselton" development be rezoned from manufacturing-distribution to general commercial.

Plans include two, four-story hotels that will be located adjacent to the I-85 southbound entrance ramp (exit 129). The company is proposing a total of 426 hotel rooms.

Duke Realty is planning a total of 277,320 square feet of space among several buildings for retail and commercial spaces, along with the hotels.

"We feel there is a market at that interchange in Braselton for retail and hotel use," said Chris Brown, senior vice president of the Atlanta Industrial Group at Duke Realty.

The site – which is located along Braselton Parkway in the “Park 85 at Braselton” development – is just a few miles from some of the area’s biggest attractions, including Road Atlanta and Lanier Speedway on Hwy. 53

If hotels are opened on the site, Braselton would benefit from a total of five percent in hotel/motel taxes. For the next fiscal, the town estimates those taxes will generate $585,000 among Braselton’s existing three hotels.

Another company, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., also recently submitted plans for a proposed hotel in Braselton. That hotel would have 138 rooms and is proposed at the I-85 northbound exit ramp (exit 126) in Barrow County, near the intersection of Ga. Hwy. 124 and Ga. Hwy 211.

Brown said Duke Realty doesn’t have any potential tenants for its proposed commercial project at "Park 85 at Braselton." If the property is rezoned, Brown said the company will evaluate when to develop the site.

The Proposed commercial site in "Park 85 at Braselton" is located some distance behind other commercially-zoned property that fronts hwy.53 Duke Realty doesn’t own that commercial property.

Duke Realty is planning to develop approximately 10 buildings at "Park 85 at Braselton," Brown said. The Progressive Lighting industrial building in the development totals more than 1 million square feet, with about 265,000 square feet of that building vacant for another potential tenant, he added.