Perhaps a second hotel at Hartwell Village

Construction is underway on a Tru Hilton hotel at Hartwell Village, and on nearby property at the shopping center there are plans drawn for a large condominium project. Oconee’s six-year economic development recruiter, Richard Blackwell, confirmed during a talk in Walhalla today that “there is interest” in building a second hotel on the shopping center property, although nothing in writing yet. Blackwell sought during his talk to the Rotary Club to prepare the Rotarians for a busier sector of Oconee County commerce with new jobs and new shopping opportunities. With them, however, comes more traffic which is being regulated by three sets of new traffic lights in front of Hartwell Village. And Blackwell predicts a fourth set of traffic lights will be added at 123 and the Jacobs Road, once construction starts on a large student housing complex across from Hartwell Village. Even with new hotels, condos, and student apartments, Oconee County still has a housing need. It’s the need, Blackwell says, for housing, especially to accommodate new workers, priced below $250 thousand