another hotel proposal for Wilkes-Barre (Township, not City); not five star, but five stories.....
at least it isn't more retail for what's become a rather huge regional mall/shopping area.........
Five-story hotel wants spot in Wachovia Arena hub
BY NICHOLAS SOHR
STAFF WRITER
03/11/2008
http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19379032&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
A local real estate company has plans to build a 113-room hotel in the retail-dominated commercial hub surrounding the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.
Millett Realty, of Clarks Summit, submitted requests to Wilkes-Barre Township for variances to allow the construction of the five-story Hampton Inn on Schechter Drive.
The land is owned by a development arm of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry.
“We have received a tremendous amount of strong interest about locating a hotel in (that area],” said John Augustine, senior director of economic and entrepreneurial development for the chamber. “We have decided to work very closely with a company to place the hotel.”
Millett officials could not be reached for comment Monday.
The hotel would be placed on three acres of the 14-acre subdivision pocketed between Interstate 81 and the chasmic drainage basin that Schechter Drive wraps around, said Augustine.
The plot is one of the last undeveloped areas surrounding the arena.
Augustine would not comment on specific plans for the use of the rest of the land.
“We certainly feel that having a hotel there will bring greater attraction to that pad,” he said. “It’s certainly a very visible piece of land.”
Millett will make a presentation to the Wilkes-Barre Township Zoning Hearing Board at 7 p.m., March 21, in the municipal building.
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