Here's some hopeful news. Seems as though Marriott (which already has a good presence in the Ithaca Area) is stepping up to the plate for the downtown Hotel Ithaca project. From the Ithaca Journal:
An artist's rendering of a previous version of the planned Marriott hotel in downtown Ithaca.
Marriott could be built on east end of Commons
Original plan grows to 159 rooms; city must approve project
7:31 PM, Aug. 29, 2012
Written by
David Hill
Downtown Ithaca’s first Marriott hotel would rise on what’s now mostly a parking lot beside the Rothschild Building on The Commons.
The city must approve the project.
Three years ago, Long Island developer Jeffrey Rimland first proposed the project as “Hotel Ithaca.” The project is now affiliated with Marriott International, Urgo Hotels President and CEO Donald Urgo told the city Planning and Development Board Tuesday.
Urgo and the development team, which includes the architectural firm Cooper Carry, gave an update to the board, which is reviewing its plans.
Plans aren’t very different from what’s been presented already, Urgo said, but changes would make the building function better economically and operationally, and fit with Marriott guidelines.
The plan has grown from 127 guest rooms to 159; Marriott’s minimum is 150 and preference is 200.
Marriott wanted a larger lobby, with more energetic architecture, that spills out onto The Commons, according to the development team.
To comply with city height restrictions, mechanical equipment on the roof was adjusted, with three small cooling towers instead of one large one.
Urgo said the company hopes to begin construction in March, though it had hoped to begin some foundation work as early as December.
The company will return to the planning board for further review. It will also need to renew variances received in 2009 from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals that have expired because construction didn’t start within the required two years.
Board members appeared to like the plan. It’s seen as a potential anchor for downtown and The Commons in particular, city Planning Director JoAnn Cornish said Wednesday.
“Anything that attracts more people is only a shot in the arm for us,” Cornish said.
The second-floor conference space will comprise 2,400 square feet. The Holiday Inn on Cayuga Street already plans an expansion primarily to add conference space. More conference space allows downtown to host larger conventions and similar events.
“There’s so much demand downtown for conference space that we’re really excited that they’re willing to put in conference space,” Cornish said. “It’s not huge, certainly, but it’s a good size.”
Urgo told the planning board on Tuesday evening that his company wants to join with the region’s tourism industry to draw business from the nearby driving market in cities such as Syracuse, Scranton and Binghamton.
“We think we can induce that demand and drive business from New Jersey, Connecticut, New York City, etc., which for some reason or another hasn’t discovered the Finger Lakes and certainly hasn’t discovered everything that Ithaca has to offer.”
Here's the link:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE