Hotel developer responds to harborside RFP

PLATTSBURGH | The City of Plattsburgh owns an 11-acre parcel of land near the marina downtown. Skyward Hospitality, a developer out of Lake Placid, was approved by the common council on Thurs., June 11 to begin negotiations with the city regarding the potential for a "mixed-use" development near Dock Street. The "harborside area" is made up of two parcels, said Director of Community Development Matthew Miller. This is the second time the city has issued an RFP on this particular portion of the site, which includes the harborside parking lots, the Brown Field site and the land behind the marina building leading up to the waterfront. The second parcel is made up of the Municipal Lighting Department (MLD) site and water resource recovery facility. No maps were presented during the meeting or within the application, but Miller said a GIS diagram can be provided to councilors. FORMER INTEREST "The first time we issued this RFP back in 2018, there were 4 firms that expressed interest," Miller shared with councilors during the meeting, which included some in-person participants and some attending via Zoom, as the city prepared to enter Phase 3 of economic re-opening. All but one of the original 4 RFP applicants declined to submit a proposal, they discussed. "When we re-issued the RFP we made certain to reach out to them with some updates about what's happening with the city and the site. We also spoke to Prime Companies as well to see if they had any interest," said Miller. Prime Companies, the developer set to take over the Durkee Street lot downtown with a 114-unit mixed-use building as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), declined to apply. Miller clarified that the approval of the resolution does not commit the city to action, but rather begins "serious conversations" surrounding the achievability of the proposed Skyward project. THE PROPOSAL Mayor Colin Read mentioned at a recent press conference, as well as at a recent mayoral election debate, that he had been most excited regarding harborside development of all potential projects associated with beginning stages of DRI development back in 2016. Skyward's proposal includes development of the harbor side area in three phases: phase one being a hotel, phase two as an office building and phase three as a second hotel pending economic success of the first hotel in phase one. The project is considered "mixed-use" because a hotel is both residential and commercial, said Miller. Ward 5 Councilor Patrick McFarlin expressed concern that the 3-week application period may have deterred other interested parties from applying. Miller responded saying that the common council would need to approve any further action moving past these preliminary negotiations.

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Hotel developer responds to harborside RFP

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