A Hampton Inn and Suites is set for construction in Albemarle later this year.

Construction of the hotel, which will be built at the corner of Wall Street and N.C. Highway 24-27, will start sometime in September or October, said Ketan Patel, vice president of U.S. Hotels, Inc. and future owner and operator of the Hampton Inn.

Patel said the people involved are in the process of completing architectural drawings.

Construction for the hotel was originally going to start in September 2019, but it has been delayed because Patel is working to buy a small parcel of adjacent land from the city, which would be used for parking. The land was gifted to the city by Stanly County Schools.

City Manager Michael Ferris said the city has signed paperwork that the lawyer for U.S. Hotels has drawn up and  “we are now awaiting the school system to approve so the City can sell the property and complete this deal.”

Ferris added the city has agreed to pay the school system a share of the sale’s proceeds.

During a Feb. 13 special called school board meeting, the board passed a motion to release the portion of land, which is about a third of an acre, to the city in exchange for around $40,000 in closing costs.

The hotel should be completed in around 15 months, Patel said.

The Hampton Inn will have around 90 rooms and will employ 15 to 20 people.

Patel and business partner Vimal Patel founded U.S. Hotels, Inc. in 1994. In 2009 the company was hired to manage the Executive Inn in Albemarle before the hotel was eventually purchased by Dhara Hospitality Group, LLC.

The company operates 10 hotels, including five in North Carolina. The company is also planning to soon open a Fairfield Inn and Suites in Rocky Mount and a Springhill Suites in downtown Durham.