A new hotel is on the horizon for the city.

Elizabethton Housing and Development Agency Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday morning to approve the city’s first Tax Increment Financing (TIF) project — a 54-room Cobblestone Hotel. The motion passed unanimously with board members Danny Blevins, Dale Shook, Larry Gobble and Stan Bailey voting to approve the measure. Commissioner Bertha Davis was absent from the meeting.

Cobblestone Hotel Development, based out of Wisconsin, will set up their new building in the vacant part of land beside 3-Minute Car Wash near the Elizabethton Wal-Mart. According to the application submitted from the company, the hotel will be three-story with 54 units, a fitness room, laundry room, meeting room, pool, and feature other amenities. The total projected cost of the endeavor, according to the application, is $5,644,000.

With the passage, EHDA voted to approve the development’s request of $1,042,352.82 of tax increment financing for the project.

Prior to the vote, commissioners were able to voice their opinions and questions about the project. Larry Gobble, vice-chairman of the board, added the development will be key for the future of tourism and help attract people to the area. Gobble added that he believed the hotel chain will be a benefit after he researched it online, adding the rooms have an affordable rate and the area is prime for visitors with the restaurants and stores in the vicinity. This will be Cobblestone Hotel Development’s first hotel in Tennessee.

“I think it will be a good boost for us,” Gobble said.

Chairman Dale Shook seconded the sentiments of Gobble, adding the hotel can be key for the city and county’s goal of highlighting tourism in the community. Shook added the hotel is a quality chain for the area and thanked everyone involved with recruiting the chain, including City of Elizabethton Planning and Development Director Jon Hartman.

The director said the hotel is “just one piece of the puzzle” and thanked EHDA for their support.

Tuesday’s decision to approve the project is a key milestone for a project that has been years in the making. City and county officials approved the TIF District within the area this year — roughly 135.3 acres spanning from behind Wal-Mart off Overmountain Drive to property near Cherokee Park Drive. Projects, like the new Cobblestone Hotel, are being geared to help the development of Elizabethton and Carter County.

The cause for the TIF is to help address the “number of buildings that have fell into disrepair” in the area and address environmental issues, according to the redevelopment plan.

For a TIF district, the city and county “freezes” property taxes they would collect on the property while the property owner would continue to pay taxes on the full amount of the assessed value of their property. According to information from the planning development office, “the difference between what the city and county collect and what the property owner pays is set aside into a special TIF fund.” The money gathered would then be reinvested back into the properties receiving the TIF.

The city is estimating $218,000-plus annually in additional property tax revenue over the course of 30 years for the Watauga River Redevelopment Area and Urban Renewal Plan.

According to the application obtained by the Elizabethton Star, the hotel project is tentatively expected to start construction this year and open in 2019.