Another hotel has set its eyes to start building on Wolf Road.
Developer Howard Carr presented his project as a sketch plan review before the Colonie Planning Board Tuesday, July 16, for a five-story hotel, two national chain restaurants and a national retailer on one location at the current site of the Lazare Lincoln dealership at 144 Wolf Road.
The hotel will hold close to 100 rooms, and the entire project, including the three other facilities, will cost roughly $16 million.
Carr said they are currently working with out-of-state retailers and restaurants, but could not disclose who might be coming.
The project follows two other developers who have proposed hotels on Wolf Road. Home2 Suites by Hilton, an extended-stay hotel at 10 Metro Park Road, is currently seeking concept approval by the Planning Board for a four-story, 91-room hotel. Staybridge Suites, a seven-story, 115-room hotel, has been approved at 19 Wolf Road, next to the Macy’s parking lot at Colonie Center.
The main Wolf Road strip collectively has 2,000 rooms from its standing hotels, President of the Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau Michele Vennard said. Adding in the three new hotels would bring close to 350 more rooms.
While the road already seems busy, Planning and Economic Development Director Joe LaCivita said more hotels would not keep being proposed if they thought they weren’t wanted.
“I think the hotels wouldn’t come if they didn’t do the market study of the need that is currently existing. They know what their room occupancy rates are,” LaCivita said.
Vennard said drivers like the Albany NanoTech Complex will bring in more visitors for the new hotels.
“It’s new product. I think consumers are always looking for new product. That’s what that represents,” Vennard said. “That location has always been key. It’s visible from a major interstate highway.”
While the latest project still needs to go before the Planning Board for concept approval, Carr said he would like to see all approvals put in place by the end of the year to get the project rolling.
