COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A deal may have been worked out between supporters and opponents a hotel affiliated with the University of South Carolina.

That deal "is in the best interest of all those involved, and there was some give on both sides," said Bo Aughtry, owner of the Hampton Inn.

Aughtry's hotel on Gervais Street is just a few blocks from where USC planned to build its facility. He and other Columbia hotel owners worried they would lose business when USC built the $12.5 million, 117-room hotel on campus to house students at the U.S. Justice Department's National Advocacy Center.

Gov. Mark Sanford tried for weeks to get the two sides to agree to some sort of compromise.

The deal may not clear up all of the issues.

For instance, an agreement, signed by Advocacy Center director Mike Bailie, promises that prosecutors training at the center would fill more than 40 percent of all "room nights" available each year.

But the General Accounting Office says the promise to fill the rooms violates federal procurement law. The Justice Department also says the Advocacy Center lacked authority to pledge nearly $2 million for restoration of an apartment complex tied to the hotel deal.

Information from: The State