New Hampton Inn opens in East Ridge’s Jordan Crossing
Nearly a half century ago, Exit 1 on Interstate 75 in East Ridge boasted more hotel rooms than any exit on the 1,786mile interstate from Michigan to Florida.
Only a couple of those original inns still remain, but on the site of a former Ramada Inn and America’s Best Hotel, a newer, more luxurious hotel opens today at the East Ridge exit — the first of at least a couple of hotels that developers of the Jordan’s Crossing development hope to bring to their development.
Vision Hospitality today will open an 88-room Hampton by Hilton across Camp Jordan Parkway from the Bass Pro Shops that opened two years ago. The hotel is part of the 50-acre Jordan Crossing development that will eventually include more than 300,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and hotels at the entrance to one of the largest sports recreation parks in Tennessee, Camp Jordan Park.
“As part of the Jordan Crossing development, the Hampton will provide visitors with convenience and quality service at an attractive price,” said Mitch Patel, the founder and president of Vision Hospitality. “We truly feel that Hampton is one of the best brands available today, and we value the partnership we have with Hilton to develop premium hotels in growing markets.”
Vision, which operates or is building 45 hotels across the Southeast and Midwest, plans to open five more Hilton-branded hotels by the end of 2019.
Hampton Inn by Hilton Chattanooga East Ridge is part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton’s 14 distinct hotel brands. The new hotel includes an outdoor pool with enhanced features and a state-of-the-art fitness facility and business center.
John Healy, managing director for SVN and a partner in the Jordan’s Crossing development, said he is “thrilled to have the new Hampton Inn, which we believe will be a great addition to Jordan’s Crossing.”
Healy said the developers hope to have at least one more hotel in their complex. Jordan’s Crossing already includes a Bass Pro Shop and a Chick-fil-A restaurant and developers are building 18,000 square feet of retail space which should be completed by next summer near the new hotel.
“We obviously would have loved to move quicker on some of these developments, but we feel like we are putting in the right tenants for this to be a very successful development,” Healy said.
Jordan’s Crossing is built at the entrance to East Ridge’s 280-acre Camp Jordan Park and is one of only three sites in Tennessee selected as a border tax zone where sales tax proceeds in the zone are kept by local governments to pay for improvements made in the area.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@times freepress.com or at 757-6340