Jan. 27, 2005 - GLENS FALLS -- An Albany-based development group has proposed building a retail and office complex that would include a chain hotel at the current location of the Burger King restaurant next to the Glens Falls Civic Center.

The proposed development would initially include one hotel, and possibly a second hotel and a parking garage in the future, said Peter Cornell, a developer with BBL Inc.

As envisioned by developers, the complex would begin near the existing Burger King on Glen Street and stretch around the corner to include two office buildings on Warren Street.

The proposal will hinge on being able to buy the Burger King and Chamber of Commerce properties at "a reasonable value," Cornell said, and also if it can be documented that there is sufficient business to support a second hotel downtown.

Officials with the development group have an appointment to meet with Chamber of Commerce officials next week and expect to meet with the owners of Burger King shortly thereafter, he said.

Todd Shimkus, the chamber's president and chief executive officer, said chamber officials are "willing to listen," but he has doubts the cost of the project would be feasible.

"I don't think it's a slam dunk, but if we can be helpful in the process, we will," he said,

A real estate official at the Carroll's Corp., which owns and operates the downtown Burger King, did not return voice mail messages left on Monday and Tuesday.

A consultant is studying the demand for hotel rooms downtown and how a new hotel would affect the Queensbury Hotel, which is the only other full-service hotel downtown, Cornell said.

"It really depends on a good solid market study," he said.

Mayor Robert Regan said the development group initially approached city officials about the project.

"It was never one of our tasks to go looking for a hotel," he said.

Cornell said that BBL Inc. operates several Hilton, Marriott and Holiday Inn hotels in the Saratoga Springs and Albany areas and is working with Six Flags Inc. to develop a hotel and indoor water park across Route 9 from Great Escape in Queensbury.

"It's just a natural progression," he said.

The company's construction division is building a new wing at Glens Falls Hospital.

The hotel complex proposal is unrelated to the city's efforts to attract a Boscov's department store to the city.

Regan said he had been waiting to discuss the proposal publicly until it was definite.

"If you talk about too many things that don't take place, then people aren't going to believe you when one comes along that is serious," he said.

City Economic Development Director James Martin, however, briefed Common Council members on the project last week.

"I would view that as an appropriate and good use of that property, and I would support it," said 2nd Ward Councilman Peter McDevitt.

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Teena Weber and First Ward Councilman John "Jack" Diamond both said they were briefed on the project, but would not discuss details. Other council members contacted would neither confirm nor discuss the project.

State Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, said she has seen plans for the proposed project, and was impressed.

She and other state officials are attempting to arrange state funding for a parking garage that could benefit the proposed hotel and other proposed downtown projects, Sayward said.

At this point, the development group is only looking for funding for the parking garage, but the group may seek additional public money if the cost of developing the project becomes too high, Cornell said.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the senator would be willing to assist with the project in any way possible.

Queensbury Hotel General Manager Kyle Kammerer said there has been speculation for years about a hotel coming into the Burger King site, but he was not aware of the latest proposal.

Kammerer said he could not comment about how a second downtown hotel might affect the Queensbury Hotel until the developer's plans are clear.

Original plans for the Civic Center, which opened in 1979, included an attached parking garage with a hotel and retail stores nearby, former Mayor Edward Bartholomew Jr. has said.

Plans for the parking garage were scrapped in order to add additional seats in the arena. Initial plans called for 2,800 seats, not the current 4,800.

A developer who owned the Holiday Inn in Lake George had agreed to operate a hotel downtown but was unable to obtain financing.

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