Union Township will be getting a hotel in its commercial area.

Dick McClure of McClure Realty and Development, owner of property at Union Plaza, said he has signed an agreement with a developer to build a Hampton Inn on a parcel of land connected to the complex where Sears, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply, Wendy’s and Bob Evans are situated.

The hotel developer, Ramesh Patel of Wausseon, Ohio, said he intends to break ground for the three-story, 73-room building this summer.

Patel owns a family business that operates about 20 hotels in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

“This will be the first hotel in Pennsylvania,” he said of his New Castle venture.

The primary reason for choosing the site, he said, is that there is no other new hotel in the area.

“This is a new market for us.”

The prospect of a harness racing track and casino in neighboring Mahoning Township also was a consideration, but not the primary one, Patel said.

The New Castle area has a big population, he noted, but there is no hotel of the type he believes is needed.

His plans are to build an all-indoor hotel with an indoor swimming pool and hot tub and an 800- to 900-square-foot meeting room.

Although there will be no restaurant in the building, guests will receive a complimentary continental breakfast.

McClure said a road will be built connecting the Hampton Inn to the Bob Evans Restaurant property.

The hotel will be built on the western corner of the property, fronting on Route 224, on land that formerly was the site of Sotus Candies, according to McClure.

He anticipates the hotel will be completed and open for business in the early summer of 2009.

Although there were no zoning hurdles, Patel said he has presented preliminary drawings to township officials and is in the process of obtaining approvals for utilities such as sewer and water service.