Carowinds Files Permit for SpringHill Suites Hotel

[ethancoaster]

 

(From Carowinds Connection)

[CoastersRZ]

Given the recent conference calls, I am not surprised they are trying to expand their hotel offerings (they refer to this on their conference calls as "out of park revenue".  I am a little surprised that if it does end up being a Spring Hill Suites that they have gone with a flag for the hotel versus using their own name plate (like Breakers at Cedar Point or the recently renamed Cedar Point Express Hotel).

I wonder where on property this planned hotel is slated to go.  I know they have been expanding Carowinds with a lot of new capital lately.

[Creed Bratton]

I honestly could see this going next to Cabelas.

[ethancoaster]

I'll most likely go in this parcel of land near the toll booths, outside of Catawba Trace Rd: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.104883,-80.9318156,457m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[Creed Bratton]

That'd work too. 

I see them placing it just outside of the gates toward the tolls....unless they move those too. 

[ethancoaster]

I wouldn't count on it, the tolls were just built in late 2014. In all likelihood, considering the site is being developed in both states, it'll be closer to the freeway.

[Creed Bratton]

I see what you're saying now....wonder how they'd deal with routing traffic to and from as well as to the tolls.

[Ian Tags]

If I'm not mistaken, SpringHill leans more toward the higher end of hotels. I am curious to see how this develops over the upcoming years, not just for Carowinds but Cedar Fair as a whole.  I wonder how much money Cedar Fair would get from this.

[Hoeter]

From the looks of the screenshot that the OP posted, looks like this hotel will be owned by Cedar Fair. Note rdecker@cedarfair.com as the contact information.

Possibly Cedar Fair is franchising the hotel from Marriott?

[teenageninja]

SpringHill Suites are not the highest end of the Mariott offerings, but they are above average.  I stayed in one regularly for about 16 months while I was traveling for work.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Here in another 10 years I see Carowinds being the true CP of the south.

[Kenban]

I think what will separate this hotel from the offerings at Cedar Point is that I suspect it will be open year round.  Which is likely why the hotel is a Springhill Suites.  From the discussions on the conference calls I expect this is just the first of several hotels at Cedar Fair properties.  Canada’s Wonderland has been rumored to be next.

[Leland Wykoff]

A few items to note in this report.  It is a very small hotel at only 130 rooms, and this is perplexing.  Why is Cedar Fair not planning a larger facility?  The Spring Hill Suits flag makes sense in this regard, as a year round hotel they will have stronger booking in the off seasons with a nationally flagged hotel chain and the strong reservations system such a franchise offers.  The report also indicates a newly aligned private road will lead into the property.  This suggests an easy sight and drive line to the hotel from the interstate.  

That the Spring Hill Suits building is identified as being located in North Carolina offers some tantalizing clues to its location and a strategy to maximize public support for this project from North Carolina along with minimizing the taxes associated with a large investment in South Carolina.  Likely the parking lots, pool, and other facilities will be on the South Carolina side of the parcel which the report indicates straddles the state lines.  

The hotel may be built in such a way as to allow additional buildings or towers to join the complex as room revenues and occupancy grow.  Much like how Breakers is growing with the addition of a new tower once occupancy and demand were established by the smaller room count of the renovated Breakers (recall Cedar Fair characterized that project as a "refreshment" rather than a rebuild).  

Marriott/Starwood has many brands and the final flag may not actually be settled upon until much later in the process.  Carowinds may well determine another brand in the Marriott/Starwood stable will suite them better from an average daily revenue standpoint.  At only 130 rooms, each head in a bed must generate significant revenues to meet the stringent return on investment demanded by Cedar Fair.  

The new CEO and other talent brought on board will be looking to expand at a more rapid pace the development of out of park revenues.  Be watching for FUN to monetize adjacent properties to bring new revenues whilst leveraging the marking dollars, efforts, and know-how which brings folks on park.  Second gate properties such as museum attractions, dinner shows, and the like are no doubt in the planning process.

The just departed CEO Matt Ouimet was a hotel executive prior to his arrival at Cedar Fair.  For whom one may wonder?  Starwood Hotels and Resorts. 

[ethancoaster]

Looks like we've got our first rendering of the hotel as well as a description: 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/02/12/carowinds-plans-development-on-northeast-side-of.html

Quote

 

Carowinds will soon begin site work to make way for a development on at least part of the land it rezoned last year.

The amusement park confirmed it will begin construction on a five-floor, 130-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel this spring on the northeast corner of Carowinds. The Charlotte Business Journal previously reported that the 24.2-acre parcel at 14523 Carowinds Blvd., which Carowinds rezoned last year, was pegged for a SpringHill Suites hotel.

Expected to break ground by the end of March, the hotel will be owned and operated by Carowinds as a Marriott franchise. It's the first hotel that Carowinds will develop, though its parent company, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. (NYSE: FUN) out of Sandusky, Ohio, owns four hotels elsewhere.

The hotel will include suites as well as a pool, fitness center, small bar and an outdoor seating area with a fire pit, according to Lisa Stryker, director of communications at Carowinds. The SpringHill Suites is expected to open in the summer of 2019.

Stryker said there are no other confirmed plans for the remainder of the site and that Carowinds is "always considering the best use of land." Cedar Fair acquired the land in 2011 for $810,000. A conventional rezoning request last year rezoned the land to a light industrial zoning designation that permits a wide range of commercial uses.

 

 

[Maverick44]

I really did my trip to Carowinds so this is good news.

[Pez]

It makes sense that Cedar Fair would franchise a national brand for their park hotel.  If they used one of their own brands I imagine it would be difficult to book in the off season or to people who are not necessarily coming to town for Carrowinds.  This opens the clientele up to business travelers.  

I could see them doing this at Kings Island at the intersection of Kings Island Drive and Western Row, especially with the road improvements and freeway access at that corner.  There is plenty of land there for a hotel this size.  There is also a growing business community in the immediate area.  I would love to see a roof top bar overlooking the park.  I know they use some of that land for overflow parking a couple Saturdays in October, but assuming this hotel would be about the size of the hotels up by the Beach or the Comfort Suites, I don't think it would impede that.  The old baseball field that no one has played on this millennium may have to go though.  

[Maverick44]

^^ Are we sure this will be a year round hotel since it is on park premise?

[Pez]

No.  I bear no information on this topic other than what I read in this thread.  It will be a hotel in a Charlotte suburb with nearby businesses and residents who could make use of a hotel year round.  By obtaining a franchise that has no particular connection to the amusement park industry, it seems Cedar Fair is interested in attracting whomever would normally stay at a Spring Hill hotel.