A new hotel could soon be on the horizon for Carter County.

Elizabethton Housing and Development Agency commissioners will meet Tuesday morning to vote on an application submitted by Cobblestone Hotel Development to construct a new hotel within the new tax increment area, known as a TIF district, recently adopted by EHDA, City Council and County Commission.

Cobblestone Hotels, which is based out of Wisconsin, is proposing to create a 54-room hotel that would include a pool, complimentary breakfast, wireless internet, daily newspaper and onsite convenience store.

The proposed location for the development would be beside the 3-Minute Car Wash near the Elizabethton Wal-Mart, just right down the road from Sycamore Shoals Hospital.

Representatives from the city and county that serve on an application committee were able to go through the necessary documents and OK’ed the application to be brought before the commissioners.

Information provided by City Hall indicates the plan area consists of roughly 135.3 acres spanning from behind Wal-Mart off Overmountain Drive to property near Cherokee Park Drive.

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.

Once a TIF district is implemented, the city and county would ultimately “freeze” 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 in either September or October of this year and open in spring 2019, if the application is approved. The application will be finalized and ready to go pending approval Tuesday from commissioners.

Information provided by the Cobblestone Hotels website shows the chain has 145 hotels across the country with no chains currently set up in Tennessee. The chain also has hotels in others parts of the world.