Hotel Developer Eyes City

A Connecticut developer is eyeing a portion of an 8.2-acre parcel along Gaffney Drive to construct two Marriott brand hotels.
Russell & Dawson Architecture & Engineering, East Hartford, has requested the city change the parcel's zoning to a commercial district from a planned development district.
Before receiving all of its approvals from the city, the developer will have to overcome sewage issues that have choked development along the Interstate 81 corridor.
If the zoning request is approved by the City Council, the change will pave the way for the developer to construct a four-story, 118-room Towne Plaza Suites Hotel and an adjacent three-story, 106-room Fairfield Inn.
The Towne Plaza Suites brand offers high-speed Internet, full-sized kitchens, fitness centers, an indoor pool and lower rates for extended stays.
The Fairfield Inn brand offers free breakfast, high-speed Internet in the rooms and lobby and a rewards package for free nights and flights.
GAFFNEY ENTRANCE
If approved, the hotels will share a parking lot that can be accessed from Gaffney Drive and Commerce Park Drive. The developer plans to purchase about 7 acres of the property from Jefferson Hostel, a holding company of the nonprofit Jefferson Rehabilitation Corp.
The city Planning Board needed almost no discussion Tuesday afternoon to unanimously recommend that the City Council approve the zone change.
The city has not yet received a site plan for the project, said Kenneth A. Mix, city planning and community development coordinator.
"It is our understanding that there will also be a subdivision request," Mr. Mix wrote in a memo to the Planning Board. "The northern 1.23-acre portion of the property contains parking for the convenience store, and Jefferson Hostels Inc. will keep ownership of" the land.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
The developer also plans to make a 6,000-square-foot parcel within the hotels' parking lot available for future development.
"We're still working with the developer on conceptual drawings," said Julian Clark of Plumley Engineering. "We want to make sure that both the landowner and developer are happy with it."
The Baldwinsville engineering firm has most recently coordinated the environmental cleanup at the former AMF Bowling plant in Lowville.
Russell & Dawson also developed the Candlewood Suites Hotel along Herrick Drive near the Fort Drum gate. Construction on the four-story, 113-room hotel broke ground in October.
"This is most certainly a good thing for the city," City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said. "We're excited to see continued development, especially where there are places in the nation where they're seeing hotels close. We're still seeing people who are interested in building in the city of Watertown."
FLOWS SLOWED
Developers eyeing vacant land along Gaffney Drive to construct a pair of hotels will have to overcome expensive hurdles caused by a lack of adequate sewage infrastructure in the area.
The city will ask to split the cost of upgrading sewage infrastructure along Gaffney Drive with the hotels' developer, Russell & Dawson LLC, City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said.
"Our city engineer is looking at it. There has been some initial discussion with the potential developers concerning the flow numbers they're expecting," Mrs. Corriveau said. "We've met with them and that is one of the factors that will play into what the solution is with the sewers in that area."
The city purchased a portion of Gaffney Drive last year along with the sewage main that runs underneath the road and an aging roadside sewage pump station. The main and pump will have to be either upgraded or replaced.
COFFEEN STREET EYED
The city likely will have to send the sewage produced by the hotels uphill to a main under Coffeen Street, because a main beneath Arsenal Street already is at maximum capacity for a majority of the day.
"What we're trying to do is take a holistic look at the needs in that area," Mrs. Corriveau said. "We can't just take a look at one site; we have to look at all of the potential in that area."
EXISTING DEVELOPER IRKED
Alexandria Bay developer Patrick M. Donegan has told the City Council that development on his land, which borders Interstate 81 between Arsenal and Coffeen streets, has been choked because of a lack of sewage capacity.
He told council members last month that he cannot construct a hotel and two or three restaurants on the vacant parcels because of the sewage issue.
The Gaffney Drive hotel project also may revitalize discussions about the recently scrapped Western Boulevard, which would have forced the city to purchase a portion of the Stateway Plaza parking lot to build a thoroughfare that connects Arsenal and Coffeen streets.
The roughly $7 million road was removed from the five-year capital budget included in the proposed 2009-10 budget because the city has been unable to acquire state or federal funding for the project.