Just getting started
About two dozen people gathered April 7 to mark the start of the construction of the $10 million TownePlace Suites by Marriott in White Hall.
Umesh “U.E.” Patel, White Hall business owner and developer, is building the extended-stay facility on Sheridan Road with the hope of having it operational by the summer of 2022.
It is next to Colton’s Steak House, also owned by Patel, and just off Interstate 530, Exit 34.
Already, Design One Contracting LLC of Pine Bluff is tackling the dirtwork in preparation for the foundation, and it will take about 14 months to build the four-story, 80-room hotel, Patel said.
The rooms will provide guests with kitchens and other amenities needed for a longer stay, and Patel said he expects most of his bookings to be out-of-town businesspeople.
“The TownePlace Suites by Marriott will be a wonderful addition to White Hall,” said Joe Spadoni, White Hall Chamber of Commerce president, who attended the groundbreaking.
Spadoni also thanked Patel and his family for investing in the city.
Mayor Noel Foster said the city is thrilled with the development.
“We have worked with Umesh and his management team,” Foster said.
Patel said city government is key. “It’s important to any business’s success.” As importantly is his family’s commitment to the businesses, he said. “I’ve been blessed.”
INVESTING IN HIS ADOPTED HOMETOWN
Shortly after arriving in America from India, Patel opened his first Subway in Dumas in 1999. But eventually he turned his attention to White Hall.
Patel’s White Hall commercial investments number four and are growing in the Sheridan Road area. He said he believes in the commerce potential of the area, he said.
With this in mind, he opened a Dairy Queen in 2015 and then a Holiday Inn Express about three years later. Both are on Sheridan Road.
“Umesh and his family have invested a lot of money and time into our community,” Foster said.
Patel’s businesses have done so well that he decided to invest in a Colton’s Steak House franchise. It opened last summer and draws customers from White Hall and Pine Bluff, as well as I-530 travelers and people from around southeast Arkansas.