A spokesman for the Hilton/Tru Hotel chain provided more information during the week about the hotel being planned in the Wake Forest Crossing shopping center that will face Stadium Drive.
The developer is Milkam Hospitality, a private hospitality management and development company with its headquarters in Wake Forest where it built, owns and manages Candlewood Suites on Retail Drive as well as Comfort Suites in Omaha and its website says it plans a future Home2 Suites without giving a date or location.
The Tru Hotel, part of the Hilton chain that Milkam plans to build, will have 84, not 85 units/rooms as reported by the Gazette last week, Laura Schultz, a publicist for the project, says. Milkam has already submitted preliminary plans to the Wake Forest Planning Department. The building will have four floors.
Schultz said, “Construction should commence in the first quarter of 2017” and the estimated construction cost is between $8 and $9 million.
Huddle House diner-style franchise restaurants – “Any Meal. Any Time. – are usually open 24 hours a day and are spread throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southwest in 366 locations with another 38 being developed.
“Huddle House is looking at the potential for two locations around Wake Forest (south in Forestville or towards Rolesville) and north around the Franklinton or Louisburg area,” Stephanie Taylor, a spokesman for Huddle House with All Points Public Relations, said Thursday. The chain is also looking for an additional five to six locations around Raleigh and Durham.
Taylor went on to say that plans are to have one location in Wake Forest open by the end of 2017 with two to three others open in surrounding areas by the end of 2019 to make a total of 500 restaurants open by the end of 2019.
“Wake Forest has the ‘hometown’ feel that Huddle House is looking for when selecting locations. The mix of the area’s Southern hospitality, charm and friendly atmosphere makes this the perfect area for them to expand into,” Taylor said.
