The owners of Clifton Park Center plan to build a 100-room, five-story hotel on the west side of the mall this construction season after getting final facade approval this week from the town.
“We are looking to coordinate construction [of the hotel] with adjacent projects,” said Donald MacElroy, vice president of DCG Development Corp. of Clifton Park.
The new hotel will face Clifton Country Road just north of the Regal Cinemas section of the mall. The mall has been significantly redeveloped and redesigned by DCG over the past four years so that many of the stores have their own new fronts facing the parking lots.
What national hotel chain will manage the hotel has not yet been finalized. MacElroy said DCG is still in negotiations with the chains.
John Scavo, Clifton Park’s planning director, on Friday said the town Planning Board has approved the design of the back facade of the hotel, which will rise four stories above the mall buildings and will be visible from the Northway near Exit 9.
The first rear facade rendering was presented by the developers two months ago but was rejected by the Planning Board. The applicant returned to Tuesday’s board meeting with a design the board members liked. They gave the hotel final approval.
MacElroy said the hotel will include banquet facilities. He also said financing the hotel is not a problem for DCG Development, even though plans for the hotel have been in the works for more than a year.
DCG Development also has plans for a mall expansion, with possible new tenants, that will be announced in the near future.
These construction projects will be started along with the hotel construction work.
“In a short period of time, everything will become obvious,” he said about the new construction.
Clifton Park is currently the home of at least four other national-chain hotels and motor inns. MacElroy said locating an upscale hotel near the renovated Clifton Park Center will be an attractive location for guests. He said there are ample shopping, restaurant and entertainment opportunities in this busy area at Route 146 and Clifton Country Road, less than a mile from Northway Exit 9.
Town Supervisor Philip Barrett on Friday said the town welcomes the hotel plans.
“There’s a great deal of demand for hotel rooms” in Clifton Park, Barrett said.
He said the proximity of Albany International Airport and the various sporting events in Clifton Park, as well as in other parts of the Capital Region, make the town a popular destination for visitors.
Barrett said the millions of dollars in private investment coming into the town for the hotel would help the town’s tax base.
He said the people staying at such a hotel will also shop locally and pump money into the county’s sales tax coffers.
“People who stay in the hotel go out into the community spending money, and that’s good for the local economy,” Barrett said.
He praised DCG Development for the redevelopment of the old Clifton Country Mall. “It’s an important economic engine for Clifton Park,” he said.
He added that 10 years ago, the mall was aging and unattractive. “Now, it’s vibrant,” Barrett said. “DCG has done a tremendous job in bringing the mall to the next level.
“I know they have some great plans [for future development],” he said.
Another hotel, a Residence Inn by Marriott, was approved a year ago for a site next to the Holiday Inn Express on Route 9 in the town. Construction has not yet started on this hotel.
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