Whitehaven hotel could become mixed-use facility
Travelodge by Wyndham in Whitehaven could become a mixed use facility with hotel rooms and studio apartments if the Board of Adjustment approves variances later this month. The four story hotel contains 246 units and a meeting room, business center, restaurant, fitness center and lobby bar. (Daily Memphian file)
The owner of Travelodge by Wyndham in Whitehaven may soon convert some of its hotel rooms to studio apartments if its application for variances is approved by the Board of Adjustment at its Jan. 26 meeting.
The hope is for the potential mixed-use facility with multi-family units to provide “needed housing opportunities” for people who work in the area.
“There are other hotels in the area, but I believe this is going to be the only one that provides this option,” said Brenda Solomito Basar, the project’s land planner. “And I think this is one of the few that has a business-centered aspect to it with the business center and the meeting spaces. So it will really be a good amenity to perhaps Smith & Nephew across the street and other employers in the area.”
The hotel, located at 1471 E Brooks Rd., has been in operation since 1974 and contains 246 units and a meeting room, business center, restaurant, fitness center and lobby bar. It is owned by EAS Graceland LLC.
According to the application, the variance would be consistent with Memphis 3.0’s “walkable neighborhood principle” within its “build up, not out” framework.
Under the Memphis 3.0 plan, the recommended use for the property is industrial flex, which allows for mixed use.
Currently, the property is zoned for Employment “to accommodate office, light manufacturing, research and development, warehousing, wholesale, processing and commercial uses in order (to) promote economic viability, encourage employment growth, and limit the encroachment of non-industrial development within established industrial areas.”
The current zoning does not allow for mixed-use purposes.
The number of units being converted to studio apartments is unknown until the company determines the demand. The plan is for units to be market-rate housing.
EAS Graceland LLC bought the hotel in March 2019 for $1.8 million. In September 2020, the company filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following loss of revenue due to COVID-19.
Before COVID-19, the hotel typically sold out during Memphis in May and Elvis Week in August.
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Travelodge Travelodge by Wyndham Whitehaven Mixed-use DevelopmentJulia Baker
A lifelong Memphian, Julia Baker graduated from the University of Memphis in 2021. Other publications and organizations she has written for include Chalkbeat, Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent magazine and Memphis magazine.
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