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Columbia Business Monthly

New Eastside Greenville Hotel Expected to Break Mold of Traditional Inn

Dec 04, 2020 11:04AM ● By David Dykes

(Shown: Hotel Hartness courtyard view. Rendering provided.)

By L. C. Leach III

Greenville will soon be the home of new independent Upstate hotel.

Hotel Hartness, which held its groundbreaking Dec. 3, will be built on the estate of the Hartness family, just off Hwy. 14 near Roper Mountain Road.

And once completed and opened in early-to-mid 2022, the new boutique inn is expected to be the crowning jewel of a 444-acre property with a world-class spa, multiple resort-style pools, and a village of 800 homes – all surrounded by 15 miles of walking trails and lakes and ponds.

“We want to create this village as a legacy and asset for Greenville,” Hartness Development CEO Sean P. Hartness said at the groundbreaking. “It has been in the planning for about four years, and our mixed-use community will include restaurants, specialty retail, office space, work-live spaces and more.”

 Once completed, Hotel Hartness will feature 69 rooms and 4 suites; 20,000 square feet of indoor event space; a waterfront restaurant and bar; plus six treatment rooms for patrons wanting to relax and unwind in the spa.

 “We are going to offer a customized experience that will be unique to the Greenville community,” said hotel manager Jonathan Brashier. “And I am more excited than I’ve been in 20 years for any project I’ve been involved with.”

The site was developed on the property partly because of the flexibility it offered to designers and builders.

For example, the village homes will feature an array of classic architecture, with different sizes and price points.

 And the land itself will offer a mix of pedestrian corridors, scenic streetscapes, and the preservation of 180 acres to be used as greenspace.

“Hartness will embody the ideal hamlet,” said town designer Lew Oliver. “This will form one of the great neighborhoods in the South, providing a nurturing community for all who inhabit it.”

 Managing Hotel Hartness will be Hay Creek Hotels, a new Hampshire-based company that has 19 additional properties.

Sean Hartness added that the primary reason for choosing to build the new hotel on the estate is because “the original family residence has a long history of welcoming friends and neighbors for special events.”

 “The Hartness family wants the home to continue to create memories for generations to come,” he said. “The family home will be the heartbeat of Hotel Hartness.”

As a precursor to both the hotel and village, the site will soon see the debut of the Village Kitchen restaurant.

And, at the groundbreaking, the Hartness family held its first special event – the announcement that its special partnership with SYNNEX Corporation and its Share-The-Magic initiative has raised $1.4 million to distribute to four Upstate charities.

Beneficiaries for 2020 will be A Child’s Haven, Clement’s Kindness, Make-A-Wish South Carolina, and Pendleton Place.

 “We’ve been doing this since 2010 to make a difference in children’s lives,” said Share-The-Magic founder Peter Larocque, president of North American Technology Solutions for SYNNEX Corp. “This marks the largest disbursement made since the event was founded 10 years ago, and brings the total amount raised since 2011 to more than $14 million.”

Next year, the annual Share-The-Magic gala is expected to be held at the village site – with hopes it becomes an annual, anticipated event when the hotel opens.

And going forward, both Larocque and Hartness said they hope the new hotel and village will not only help carry Share-The-Magic to new levels but become an attraction for both out-of-state visitors and Upstate residents.

 “Greenville’s eastside is flourishing,” Hartness said. “And we are excited to introduce something new and unique to the area when Hotel Hartness opens.”