Starkville Approves $45M Hotel and Student Housing

The board of aldermen granted a variance and special exemption for a mixed hotel and student housing project off Highway 12.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Hotels

Wide view of a cleared red-clay construction lot at the edge of a pine tree line, with a parked yellow excavator and a new asphalt road under overcast daylight. — Starkville's board of aldermen approved a $45 million hotel and student housing project off Highway 12 on Tuesday, granting a variance and special exemption for the 21.6-acre site. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Starkville's board of aldermen approved a variance and special exemption on Tuesday for a roughly $45 million hotel and student housing development. Desai Companies and York Developments are partnering on the 21.6-acre project off Highway 12 and Pat Station Road.

Why it matters

The approval moves a large mixed-use project near Mississippi State University closer to construction, with the student housing designed to add capacity for MSU students in Starkville. The project also relies on tax increment financing from the city and county to fund infrastructure at the site.

The project includes a 100-room Home2Suites hotel and a 500-bed student housing development on a 21.6-acre site. The city and county will issue up to $3.35 million in bonds, split evenly between them, but the final bond amount depends on project completion.

The players

Desai Companies

A Ridgeland-based developer partnering on the hotel and student housing project in Starkville.

York Developments

A Hattiesburg-based developer partnering with Desai Companies on the Starkville project.

Mississippi State University

The public university in Starkville whose students the student housing development is designed to serve.

The details

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of both exemptions before the board voted. Road construction began earlier this year and is scheduled to finish in early 2027, with the student housing targeted to open before MSU's Fall 2028 semester.

October 2025: Developers requested city and county tax increment financing support.
November 2025: The city and county approved the TIF agreement.
Earlier in 2026: Road construction began on the site.
Tuesday, November 2026: The board of aldermen approved the variance and special exemption.
End of 2026: Developers plan to submit site plans to the city.

Market Landscape

The project uses a tax increment financing structure in which new property tax revenue from the development repays bonds for up to 15 years. This places the Starkville project within a common Mississippi model for funding infrastructure tied to private hotel and student housing growth near university campuses.

Visitors and students considering Starkville lodging may see added hotel and student housing capacity once the Home2Suites and 500-bed development open around 2028. Travelers planning stays near MSU should watch for construction along Highway 12 and Pat Station Road during the 2027 build-out.

The takeaway

Developers' site plan submissions and the city's review later this year will determine whether the 2028 opening target holds for the hotel and student housing.

What happens next

Developers plan to submit site plans to the city by the end of 2026, and construction for the hotel and student housing is expected to begin in early 2027.