2 new hotel projects in Butler County get OK from zoning board

A developer planning to bring two hotels to the corner of Cox Road and Liberty Way is one step closer to making the project a reality.

The Fields at Liberty Way, a 13.35-acre development, is likely to include a 98,040-square-foot, 156-room Hyatt House extended stay hotel, and a 68,200-square-foot, 116-room Holiday Inn Express, according to plans submitted to the township.

West Chester Zoning Commission, at its July 18, recommended for approval the zoning change for the site. The case is tentatively planned to go before West Chester Twp. Board of Trustees in late August or early September, township officials told the Journal-News.

“I think it’s a great idea that two more hotels are coming in there, generating some income for salaries,” said zoning commission member Bruce Fisher.

Zoning commission member Doug Rinnert agreed.

“We need them in that area,” he said. “Most of the hotels now are down in the Union Centre area and this I’m sure is going to help with the medical buildings that are around there and other activities around there.”

The project is estimated to cost between $30 million and $34 million, according to Mark Davis, CEO of HiFive Development Services.

Nearly seven acres on the south side of the property will remain for future mixed-use development, Davis said.

Site work on the five-story Holiday Inn Express, which will be closer to Interstate 75 on 2.2 acres, is expected to start in October and be completed a year later. Work on the four-story Hyatt House site is expected to start sometime in 2017 and finish in 2018, Davis said.

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