Feb. 15, 2013--A Greensboro-based developer has bought land near the Charlotte Convention Center uptown and plans to build an Embassy Suites.

BPR Properties is working the CMC Hotels in Raleigh to build a 230-room hotel, say brokers involved in the deal. A call to BPR Properties was not immediately returned Friday.

The buyer paid $4 million for the land at 401 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., currently home to an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

Donald Beck of Beck Commercial Properties Inc., who represented BPR, said he has been working on the deal for about a year and a half as the developer scouted sites.

Location was key for the developer, Beck said. The buyer liked that the site was close to the convention center and near Brevard Streeet, which city officials would like to see turn into an entertainment district.

Rush Dunaway and Joey Godbold of Percival McGuire Commercial Real Estate represented the church in the sale.

Uptown has become increasingly attractive for hotel developers.

After Charlotte's hosting of the Democratic National Convention last summer, tourism and city officials have said uptown is in need of more rooms. Especially if the city wants to attract larger conventions and events, they have said. The hospitality industry has also seen a boost in revenues as occupancy and room rates have risen.

Godbold said a separate hotel developer had considered the church's site two years ago but that deal fell through.

According to its website, BPR Properties has bought, developed and sold hotels in the southeast since 1986. It currently is building five properties, including one in Salisbury and one in Greensboro.

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