Downtown Myrtle Beach could see a new high rise hotel with oceanfront views. What to know
Myrtle Beach’s booming hospitality sector may be close to adding a pair of trendy Hilton properties to the core of its oceanfront district — replacing two buildings constructed a half century ago.
According to city planning documents provided May 31 to The Sun News, CN Hotels wants to erect a 12-story high rise at 2801 and 2805 S. Ocean Blvd. and demolish the Sea Horn and Sea Hawk motels, which opened in 1960 and 1970 respectively.
Nelson Broyles, a partner at Charlotte-based Overcash Demmitt Architects, is expected before Myrtle Beach’s community appearance board June 1 to review a building permit for the venture.
The application includes plans for a “rooftop bar amenity” in addition the 250-bed hotels under Hilton’s Home2Suites and Tempo lines. A 4 1/2-story parking garage would also be built on site.
Representatives from both CN Hotels and the architectural firm could not immediately be reached for comment, but CN Hotels on its website lists the Hilton brands as “under development.”
ODA works primarily in and around the Chalotte area but designed Atlantic Urology’s 135 Professional Park Drive location in Conway.
Tourism-based development is continuing at a rapid clip around the Grand Strand. In February, the city’s planning commission held early talks with Jeff King, a local attorney known for representing developers of condominiums and timeshares.
King said his client — whose identity was not disclosed — is considering construction of a 28-story, 304-room branded hotel between 21st and 23rd avenues North as part of a new planned use development to include a parking garage, surface parking, restaurants and ground floor retail.
Earlier that month, Jimmy Buffett’s hospitality group announced an expansion of its properties in the region, with plans to open a Compass hotel on N. Ocean Blvd. by 2025.
And construction on a planned 127-room Hampton Inn & Suites along the 3500 block of Ocean Boulevard is expected to start soon.
The project has been talked about since 2019 but it wasn’t until city leaders late last year approved an amendment to the Prince Resort development that work could begin.
Properties in that area include The Horizon at 77th, Grande Shores and the Towers at North Myrtle Beach.
There are roughly 180,0000 hotel rooms across Horry County, according to the Myrtle Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau’s lodging dashboard. For the week ending May 20, occupancy rates were just above 64 percent — down about 4 percent from the same week in 2022.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The number of hotel rooms on the Grand Strand was incorrect in an earlier version of this story. There are more than 180,000. (Updated 12:59 p.m. 6/5/2023)
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 9:13 AM.