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LS Hotels LLC, a hotel development company based in Hickory, purchased 2.88 acres along Albert Tron Boulevard behind Sonic in Â鶹´«Ã½ in February 2020.

Albert Tron Boulevard, directly across from the entrance to UNC Health Blue Ridge in Morganton, was built with the hotel in mind, according to a previous Â鶹´«Ã½ News Herald article. The road connects South Sterling Street to West Parker Road. The road was built with a Federal Highway Administration grant of more than $1.3 million. The grant required commercial development to create 45 new jobs, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission in its grant award letter to the city.  

With that in mind, in 2019, the Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council approved memorandums of understanding for a hotel and restaurant to be built along Albert Tron Boulevard and create jobs.

City Manager Sally Sandy said the jobs at LongHorn Steakhouse satisfied the new jobs required.

LongHorn Steakhouse was built and opened in August 2020.

The property for the proposed hotel remains empty.

In June 2020, LS Hotels signed a month-to-month lease agreement for a portion of the property to be used by the Lamar Companies, which does billboard advertising, according to county land records.  

Brad Lail, an official with LS Hotels, said he had no comment about the proposed project.

Lail also is part of LPCA LLC, which develops, owns and manages hotels. The company has multiple hotels in Hickory and opened a Hampton Inn by Hilton in Black Mountain in 2019, according information from Hendrick Construction Inc., which built the hotel.

Now, in 2025, the Providence Group, a real estate company in Charlotte, has a listing to sell 2.8 acres that sits behind the proposed hotel site.

A flyer for the property identifies a planned Hilton Garden Inn on the hotel site. The flyer said the hotel is in the design process.

The 2.8 acres is available for lease or build and is identified on the flyer as a site for a restaurant (no drive-thru), retail or office.

It also identifies the property behind LongHorn Steakhouse as the future site of medical offices.

Whether a hotel will eventually be built on the property in Â鶹´«Ã½ remains to be seen, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Manager Sally Sandy said.

City officials continue to have conversations with Lail about the potential hotel, Sandy said. He has indicated that at some point he plans to move forward with the project, Sandy said. She doesn’t have any indication that it is on his schedule.

“Obviously, we would like for that to happen,� Sandy said. “I still think it's a good location for a hotel.�

The city of Â鶹´«Ã½ has designated the area as a hospitality corridor.