The City of Hartsville says in June 2009, South Carolina development company, Balaji II LLC promised it would build a Hampton Inn & Suites within the city's "Vista" at Fourth Street and Railroad Avenue, and the project would begin no later than July 9, 2010, to be completed within a year.
After initial site preparation was started, no activity has occurred at the site for many months and the site experienced erosion deterioration in 2010.
On November 18, 2010, the developer's president D.J. Desai notified the city that the developer was "putting the hotel project in Hartsville on indefinite hold and possibly cancelling the project." According to the City, Mr. Desai further stated that Baliji II's lenders were reluctant to finance the project and that its board had to decided "not to allocate any further funds to this project" because it had concluded there is "no real hope that the project will come to fruition."
The developer was to meet with city officials to discuss the future of the project and possible development of another hotel for the Vista site. The city says the developer failed to do so.
Recently, City Council instructed the City Attorney to begin legal action to recover the Vista property where the hotel is to be constructed so that the City can properly maintain it and pursue development of a suitable hotel for the site.
A notice of the City's pending legal action was filed against the property on January 6, 2011 and legal action will be initiated later this month.
