Seven Years and No Media Hotel, Springfield will have theirs in Seven Months

7 years, still no hotel

It was first mentioned in July 2012 that demolition would start soon, thus allowing for the preparation of Media’s Hampton Inn hotel.  That came and went and the start date was moved out to  December 2012.  That too looks like another missed date, as we are two weeks away from the new year.  I have heard the owner submitted for demolition permits, but nothing more than that.

Just down the road in neighboring Springfield things are a lot different with their hotel project.  When they got serious about bringing a hotel to the Springfield Country Club site, things moved fast, real fast.  In the matter of  approximately six months, this went from municipal approval, to concept ideas, to now having heavy machinery on the ground.  I stopped by yesterday to take a look and found things are progressing very quickly.  With the ground cleared and foundations close to being built, there’s every indication this hotel will be open in the Summer of 2013 as displayed by the banners hanging from the construction fences.

7 months until Springfield's hotel opening.

Financing, regulations and market conditions are all factors unique to each real estate development project.  Hotels are not any different, but what I see with Springfield that doesn’t appear in Media, is enthusiasm for the hotel.   Not so much from residents, but from the owner/builder.  The site still looks exactly like it did seven years ago!

A lot can change in those years and perhaps the economical climate and business model of a hotel in Media has too.  Competition certainly is different and if Springfield is online by this summer, things may get interesting for Media.  Every week that Media doesn’t have a hotel, is one week closer to the eventuality that Franklin Mint site will have one.  To the north, things are also progressing with Newtown Square’s  town center, which is also expected to have a hotel of some sort.

construction beginning at Springfield

Where are the economic and business development discussions needed for this town?  Aside from the Media Business Authority, who is taking a proactive lead on reviewing potential opportunities that may benefit Media?  Has the group owning  the hotel site even been contacted to find out what might be the status or expectations for 2013?  How about the Super Wawa fiasco?  People may have not agreed with the traffic or site aesthetics that I believe in good faith Wawa was willing to address, but do you think a Walgreens, which is a strong possibility will be better?

A very interesting woman once told me, “There’s no education in the second kick of a mule.”  Seems we here in Media, PA we might want to think about that one.

Tedman