HADLEY — A Homewood Suites by Hilton is in the works for an undeveloped lot next to the Home Depot and Aldi in Hadley, an architect for the project told the Hadley Planning Board Tuesday night.
The three-story structure off Russell Street would be 27,000 square feet and would include 96 rooms and at least 126 parking spaces, according to Northampton architect Thomas Douglas and consultant Kelly Killeen, who both spoke before the board.
Shardool S. Parmar, the listed manager of the firm behind the project — Russell Street Hospitality LLC — is also the president of Pioneer Valley Hotel Group Inc., which operates the Hampton Inn and Comfort Inn in Hadley, and the Holiday Inn Express in Ludow and La Quinta Inn & Suites in Springfield.
The five-member board took no action on the proposal Tuesday, with members saying there are still unresolved issues.
The project includes a proposal for a strip of green space meant for emergency vehicles behind the building, which will need approval from the town Conservation Commission, said Bill Dwyer, Planning Board clerk.
Another issue — to be sorted out by the town building inspector — is whether the hotel rooms would constitute dwelling units because of their amenities.
“Our zoning calls for one dwelling per lot and if the amenities exceed that, then they have an issue,” Dwyer said.
At issue is whether planned stovetops for the rooms would mean the rooms would have to be classified as apartments.
“If those are 96 rooms with cooking facilities that cross the line into apartments, we don’t allow a 96-unit apartment complex,” Dwyer said.
Parmar said the hotel would be geared toward professors, engineers and other professionals in town working on projects. He said guests at similar Hilton facilities stay for a week, on average.
Parmar said guests won’t typically stay longer than two or three weeks.
“These are not residences,” he said. “These are hotel rooms. They’ll be paying occupancy tax.
“It’s something for short-term stay. It’s nothing for extended stay. We wouldn’t expect somebody to be staying for a year or months on end.
The board is scheduled to hear again from the developers on Jan. 17. In the interim, the developers are expected to work on the lingering issues with the Conservation Commission and building inspector.
Contact Jack Suntrup at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.