Oh Lord, will someone PLEASE make a decision and build something already?!?
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Hotel proposed near Farm Show
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News
A hotel might be built near the state Farm Show Complex after all.
After two projects designed to provide lodging for Farm Show patrons fell through, a third developer has stepped forward. His plan calls for a 124-bed, extended-stay hotel just north of the complex.
Brian Zaver, who operates the Super 8 hotel on North Front Street in Harrisburg, wants to build a five-story Staybridge Suites hotel on 4.5 acres off Industrial Road, between the Farm Show Complex and Harrisburg Area Community College.
Zaver estimated the project would cost $8 million to $10 million.
If his plan is approved by the city, Zaver said, he would like to break ground in August or September and open in late 2007 or January 2008.
"The Farm Show is a great draw," he said. "We had this land and we are able to propose this."
Zaver is to unveil his plan at a Harrisburg Planning Commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in the public safety room on the second floor of city hall.
Zaver also is proposing a subdivision of his land at 2601 Industrial Road that would create a 2.5-acre tract he intends to sell to a restaurant franchise.
Bill Gladstone, a commercial real estate agent for NAI/CIR, which is listing the property, said a restaurant specializing in breakfast and lunch would make the most sense for the area.
"That's the trade that's there," he said, noting that he's not ruling out anything.
Staybridge Suites is the franchise that was part of a proposal last year by Crossgates Inc. of Harrisburg to build a 150-room, suites-style hotel and conference center on the Farm Show grounds.
The state would have sold five acres at the northeastern end of the Farm Show Complex to Crossgates for $550,000. But state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County, persuaded the State Government Committee to postpone the vote, citing concerns about parking and other issues.
Crossgates officials said the delay was too long to hold the company's deal with the hotel franchise.
After considering several hotel brands for his project, Zaver said he found Staybridge the best.
"Staybridge is a great product," he said. "An extended-stay hotel is the best fit for that location."
Staybridge, a national chain with about 100 hotels, bills itself as the "upscale suites hotel," with every room featuring a full kitchen.
A second hotel project wilted this year when the developer of a proposed 95-room Comfort Inn Suites Hotel at 1017-1033 Maclay St. was unable to close on the property.
Donald H. Erwin, president of Insite Development of Mechanicsburg, said he had attempted two closings on the land at the agreed-upon price. The tract is across from the southern end of the Farm Show grounds. Erwin has said he is still committed to building a hotel near the Farm Show, but not necessarily at the Maclay Street site.
Another hotel has been proposed for a site about a mile away, off Kohn Road and along Interstate 81 in Susquehanna Twp.
Lower Paxton Twp. developer Rick Szeles, managing partner of Szeles Real Estate Development Co., said he hopes to start building the 100-room hotel and office buildings in 2007.