Hotel Management Services, Inc. (HMS), the growing hospitality arm of Mitch Cox Companies, used the first half of 2018 to focus on its expanding extended stay hotel portfolio.
In April, HMS sold its select-service property Brookstone Lodge in Asheville, North Carolina. “As a management company, we are focusing on extended stay projects,” said Philip Cox, President of HMS.
In the second quarter, HMS placed a contract on an additional property in Birmingham, Alabama. The hotel will be a Suburban Inn, the extended stay product created by Choice Hotels.
On the development side, Cox announced another joint partnership with Knoxville-based hospitality management company M. Gibson Hotels to build a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Florence, Kentucky. This joint effort harkens back to a similar collaboration between the companies on the Fairfield Inn project in Johnson City, Tennessee, which opened in May 2016. “Florence is a strong market,” said Cox, noting the city’s close proximity to Cincinnati, Ohio. Online retail giant Amazon announced plans to invest $1.49 billion and bring 2,700 new jobs to a new international shipping and cargo facility in the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky area.
This combined with tourism attractions including the Creation Museum and Noah’s Ark Project are key features of the Florence market. The Fairfield Inn & Suites is expected to open in April 2019.