18th Street retail development to include hotel

The corner of 18th Street South and 28th Avenue South will now include a small hotel in addition to retail stores.

The property formerly housed Hatfield Auto and Little Professor, both of which have relocated and their former buildings demolished. The property was bought by Michael Mouron of Capstone Properties in fall 2016. In December 2016, Mouron said he was planning two buildings with 17,600 square feet in total space for retail stores and restaurants, as well as 136 private parking spaces for customers of those tenants.

However, this month Mouron said the plan has changed to bring a past idea back into the mix: a small hotel and mixed-use development.

Mouron said negotiations are still in process for the company that will head up the hotel, as well as retail tenants in the remaining space. He said the hotel would be about 125 rooms, with a restaurant and bar concept inside. There will be about 7,000 square feet of additional retail on the property if a parking lot is built, or 19,000 if a multi-level parking deck is built instead.

"Not only does a hotel more appropriately occupy the land, it will bring greater vitality to the site and tens of thousands more overnight visitors to Homewood who will eat, drink and shop in nearby retail establishments," Mouron said.

Mouron estimated completion of the property in summer 2019. Renderings of the updated plan for the property were not available.