OXFORD, Miss. — People visiting Oxford will soon have a few hundred more reasons to spend the night.
Three new hotels are under construction near Oxford’s historic downtown square and the Ole Miss campus.
With the addition, the number of hotel rooms in Oxford will jump from 750 to 1,000.
While this all means an economic boost for Oxford, city leaders wanted to maintain the city’s historic charm.
Emily Erwin, a cashier at Lindsey’s Chevron on North Lamar Boulevard in Oxford, has been watching the new 120-room Graduate Hotel come up across the street.
“They’ve done really good. I like the way it looks,” Erwin said.
She said she believed the hotel would help steer more customers to her gas pumps and convenience store.
“It’ll give us a lot of good business, especially during football season,” she said.
The Graduate is one of three new hotels under construction near Oxford’s downtown square.
The 31-room Chancellor’s House on South Lamar Boulevard and the 121-room Courtyard Marriott on Jackson Avenue are also “taking shape.”
These projects will increase hotel space in Oxford to more than 1,000 rooms, a fact tourism officials said they believed would turn “day-trippers” into “overnighters” and give a big boost over 2014’s tax revenues.
“Last year the city collected $235,000 from the hotel/motel tax revenue, it’s a 2 percent tax. And then about $2.3 million for the 2 percent food and beverage tax,” Visit Oxford Director Mary Allyn Hedges said.
However, city leaders refused to sacrifice Oxford’s Southern charm in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Hotel designers have been held to strict building codes, often resulting in more than one trip to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.
“The Graduate Hotel had to go to Historic several times, more than several times. Probably a handful of times as the owners refined their plans. You know, the color of the bricks, the windows,” City of Oxford planning director Andrea Correll said.
The Graduate Hotel is expected to open in the next month or two.
Plans are also on the drawing board for a hotel near Oxford’s new hospital.