This drawing shows how the new Fairfield Inn will look.

The Athens Planning Commission was set Tuesday to discuss site plans for a new Fairfield Inn & Suites, to be located on Interstate 65 at Exit 351 in the Centerpointe Subdivision.

The hotel, which will be about 38,000 square feet, is being built by the Madison-based Omega Hotel Group and is scheduled to open next fall. The 75-room hotel is expected to employ 20 to 25 people.

Lisa Miller, director of operations for Omega Hotel Group, said crews began moving dirt for the project about two weeks ago. Because the Fairfield chain is owned by Marriott International, the building will have to be built to Marriott specifications. However, she described the design as “trendy” and a great prototype.

Omega Hotel Group also owns the Holiday Inn & Suites in Athens and is building a new Holiday Inn at the corner of Madison Boulevard and Wall Triana Highway in Madison. Miller said the group felt like the Athens economy was strong enough to support a new hotel at exit 351.

“We felt like there would be enough hotel companies looking into the area because Athens hotels do great business,” she said. “All the hotels run a really good occupancy year-round, and we felt like the timing would be right.”

Exit 351 not only remains a busy interchange for travelers, but hotel occupancy can be hard to find whenever the city hosts special events like baseball tournaments and the annual Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention.

When more than 800 teenagers converged on the city as part of the Southern Association of Student Councils’ Leadership Rocks conference, many event attendees had to find lodging in Madison and Huntsville.

There are currently 13 hotels and motels in the Athens city limits, according to the Athens-Limestone County Visitors Center website. In addition to the Holiday Inn Express, exit 351 is already home to Best Western, Country Hearth Inn, Days Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Key West, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn and Super 8.

Jeannette Dunnavant, Athens-Limestone County tourism director, said a new hotel in Athens proves that exit 351 is still a bustling interchange. She said more lodging opportunities will provide other benefits, too.

“It will increase our lodging tax and the economic impact in the community,” she said. “People who are still traveling are baby boomers and they’re looking for those high-rise hotels, not the motels. This will be a biggie for us, and we’re very excited.”

Marriott International has nearly 3,100 properties open in North America, and close to 450 approved or under construction, according to the company’s website.