Aug. 13–LAKE GEORGE — Plans for a long-anticipated chain hotel proposed for Canada Street are set to be unveiled Thursday morning.
Local developer Dave Kenny last summer proposed a large chain hotel just north of the intersection of Canada and Amherst streets, and the Village Board a few weeks ago approved zoning changes that paved the way for Kenny’s six-story proposal.
Kenny will officially submit drawings and site plans for the hotel to the village Thursday, and those will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Village Hall, village officials announced Monday.
Lake George Mayor Robert Blais called the project the largest proposed in the village in years, and said it’s “expected to be the stimulus for other investments and revitalize our resort community.”
The proposal calls for a hotel with a large conference center, retail shops and a restaurant. The village, until last month, had a three-story cap on building height. The board approved a new district that allows for buildings of up to six stories in select areas of the commercial district, largely concentrated on the west side of Canada Street and including the land Kenny already owns where the hotel is slated to go.
To move forward, the project would need the approval of the village Planning Board and the Adirondack Park Agency. The Village Board also approved design standards, which give officials more oversight of design and architecture of future building projects.
Kenny also owns the Inn at Erlowest resort, the Clarion Hotel, outlets along the Million Dollar Half Mile on Route 9 and the Marine Village Motel.
Kenny initially proposed an eight-story hotel in the same location, and was seeking a variance for the height from the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
Kenny compromised on the height, and Blais appointed a special committee to examine the building height issue on a broader scale in the village.
Village officials may sell Parrott Street, a small street that’s now surrounded by property Kenny owns near where the hotel is planned to go. The road runs from Ottawa Street east to the property where the hotel would be built, and Kenny has indicated he’s interested in purchasing it, Blais said.
