Hilton-branded hotel proposed for Helen

Attendees of the Helen City Commission meeting Sept. 20 got a glimpse of a new hotel proposed for the city.

J.T. Gangwal, owner of the Holiday Inn Express in Helen, presented preliminary sketches for the approval of Helen Commissioners. The 90-room hotel will be a Home 2 Suites, a Hilton brand. It will have both an indoor/outdoor tavern and a restaurant. There will be 4,000 square feet of conference room space which will include a catering kitchen should conferences want to bring in a chef or catering. Carol Powell, General Manager at the Holiday Inn Express, assisted Ganwal in the presentation to commissioners.

Gangwal said the street level will have a garden and be pedestrian friendly. From the street, one entrance will have a handicapped-accessible ramp to the first floor, which is above street level. From there, people can access the restaurant or tavern, which will have outdoor tables that will overlook the street. Rooms will be accessed from that floor, but only to registered guests through a secured entrance. The restaurant and bar will be open to the public. The building will have five floors on the street side, but as the land rises in the rear, it will gradually reduce to one level.

The building, located on the land between Hofer’s Restaurant and the Heidi Hotel, will be flanked by one-way streets, so cars will enter north of the building and drive to the center of the property to access the registration desk. From there cars will go to the back of the property to park, and the exit will be on the south side of the building, on the road that currently runs beside Hofers.

Gangwal said they expect to break ground in the first quarter of 2023, and open for business in 2025. He said the hotel will employ between 40 – 70 employees, and generate $351,000 in hotel/motel tax the first year, more than $400,000 per year after that.

The Home 2 Suite brand offers kitchenette-type rooms and is pet-friendly.

The project received unanimous approval at the most recent Helen planning and design review board meeting, with only four board members of seven present at that meeting.

Some citizens had come to the meeting to see the presentation, and one asked why they couldn’t build it smaller than five stories.

“We would love to build smaller,” Gangwal said. “But we think the need in Helen is for a larger hotel.”

Powell said when the Holiday Inn Express was built in 2016, people complained that the town didn’t need another hotel.

“Nice hotels are needed here that are quality and well managed,” she said.

Gangwal asked for approval from the Helen commission before moving forward with building plans. Commissioners approved the preliminary plan in a unanimous vote, with Cinnamon Ruston absent.

In other business, Building and Zoning Administrator Darrell Westmoreland told city commissioners that AT&T will place seven cells throughout the city that he hopes will boost the signal in town.