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.

“This hotel is certainly needed,” said McClure, who was hoping to build a Hampton Inn or a Holiday Inn Express on his Union Township property, because either would be appropriate for the New Castle market.

Tractor Supply Co. opened last fall in the former Ames store. That and the hotel “are the first phase of several construction projects we anticipate completing at Union Plaza in the next five years,” McClure said.

“We anticipate a lot more commercial retail business, and we’re kicking around some housing plans, also,” he added, noting his company owns about 65 acres around the shopping center.

“I think the Union commercial corridor will continue to be the primary retail market in Lawrence County and will continue to keep progressing,” he said.

“The race track prospect certainly will help the whole county and will generate a lot more traffic on (Routes) 60 and 224,” McClure added, “And in my business, any traffic is good traffic.”

The prospect of the racetrack and casino already have brought more optimism from potential developers and retail companies who have expressed interest in the Union Plaza shopping center, McClure said.

“We’re talking with two or three different retailers now about some of our retail space,” he said, but he declined to name specific companies.