Hampton Inn hotel planned on SH 361

Preparations STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER A bulldozer moves dirt on the site where a new Hampton Inn hotel is planned off State Hwy. 361, behind Snappy’s convenience store. The work was taking place on Monday, Feb. 20. Another major hotel chain is planning to establish a presence in Port Aransas.

Representatives for the Hampton Inn chain submitted a set of preliminary construction plans to the city’s building department on Wednesday, Feb. 15, according to Deputy City Manager Dave Parsons.

The plans call for the hotel to be built at 2208 State Hwy. 361, directly behind the Snappy’s convenience store, Parsons said .

The hotel is expected to be four stories high, Parsons said. As long as a building has at least 40 feet of side yard setback, it can be built more than 35 feet high without violating city zoning regulations in that part of town, he said.

The 51,000- square- foot building will contain 78 guest rooms and a 1,300-square-foot meeting room, Parsons said.

Hampton must bring two more sets of building plans and then may pull building permits.

A Hampton representative who visited city hall said the chain hopes to start building within the next two months and finish construction in eight to nine months later, according to Parsons.

There are more than 1,700 Hampton hotels in the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Hampton is part of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts “family,” according to Hampton’s Web site .

Reached by phone this week, a Hampton Inn spokesman said he couldn’t comment on the planned Port Aransas hotel, because he didn’t have immediate access to information on the construction project.

Questions? Comments? Contact Dan Parker at (361) 749-5131 or dan@portasouthjetty.com.