Where Oakwood's newest hotel is being built, plus more details
May 23—Grading has started on Oakwood's first new hotel in years.
The five-story, 91-room Candlewood Suites extended-stay hotel is being built on 1.48 acres at 3783 Mundy Mill Drive, behind Best Western Plus Lake Lanier Gainesville Hotel & Suites, which took over the former Country Inn & Suites in 2012.
The owners, JMS Family LP of Duluth, couldn't be reached for comment for more details, such as when the hotel is expected to open or how many employees it will have.
Candlewood's website bills itself as having a "casual kind of longer stay, where you'll always feel at home, at your best and really productive while on the road."
Rooms have full kitchens and areas where customers "can stock up on breakfast items, beverages, snacks and frozen entrées."
The website also shows a gazebo with a grill on Candlewood properties. A site plan filed with Oakwood also shows a gazebo.
The site plan also shows parking and access off Mundy Mill Drive. The property, once lined with aging single-family homes, is bounded by Mundy Mill Drive and Oakwood Road, and it's close to Mundy Mill Road at Interstate 985.
Color renderings of the project, including floor-by-floor layouts, also have been filed with Oakwood.
The project has been in the works for several years.
It was first proposed in early 2020 but went back and forth with the city over a couple of issues before final approval in December 2020.
A measure passed by the city in June 2020 allows extended-stay hotels but with restrictions, including that lodging in a room would be allowed for up to 15 consecutive days and a total of 30 days during a 180-day period. Those restrictions have some exceptions, including insurance proof showing a person or people have been displaced from their home because of a disaster, such as a fire. And a hotel is considered an extended stay if more than 5% of its rooms have fixed cooking appliances and a kitchen, according to the city's rules.
