Fountain Inn may soon live up to its namesake, with the city on the verge of developing its first hotel.

The City of Fountain Inn approved a final development plan that would bring a proposed 66,000-square-foot, 109-room hotel to 300 Jones Street, across from Commerce Park.

The plans — submitted by Baker Commercials Properties and approved by the Fountain Inn City Council at their May 8 meeting — would transform an open grass field and abandoned gas station into the city’s newest redeveloped site off Wall Street.

The property was rezoned in January from a Commercial-2 to a Flexible Review District to combine it with the adjacent property at 100 Ellison Street, which itself was transformed in recent years from the historic but dilapidated Ellison Flour Mill site into the bustling multi-business hub, The Mill at Fountain Inn.

The rezoning allowed the developers to take advantage of South Carolina Textile Communities Revitalization Act tax credits to help offset costs. Without combining the two separately-owned parcels into one district, the future hotel space would not be eligible for the tax credits, as it’s not otherwise associated with the former mill site. 

As part of the development plan, the city and hotel will also install sidewalks along Jones, Ellison, and Wall Streets to create a walkable block that encourages pedestrian traffic to and from the rest of the city’s Central Business District.