July 30–Completion dates pushed back for Manchester hotels
By MICHAEL COUSINEAU
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 29. 2017 6:38PM
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This picture shows the 1.75-acre site where a Residence Inn by Marriott is to be built between Lake Avenue (at left) and Central Street (at right) in Manchester. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER FILE)
– Two proposed hotel projects slated to be finished in 2018 now are expected to open in 2019.
A proposed Residence Inn by Marriott hotel across from the SNHU Arena should be completed in March 2019. A Tru by Hilton slated for the Millyard should open by late 2019.
"We want to hurry up and get it done for the (2020 presidential) primaries," said Peter Flotz, managing member of Bedford Lot Venture LLC, developer for the Hilton hotel and nearby parking garage.
Flotz said removing toxic soils and fill from the Commercial Street site will cost more than $3.5 million, much more than the $1 million he expected. That also meant missing a deadline for getting tax credits.
He expects to break ground on the 116-room hotel in May with 16 to 18 months of construction.
Flotz recently won approval to push back the deadline until Sept. 30, 2018 for closing on a construction loan to avoid having the property revert back to the city, which previously owned it. He also is seeking to extend planning board and zoning board approvals.
The $23 million project includes the hotel and a parking garage for 253 vehicles at the Bedford lot, near North Commercial and Spring streets.
"We're looking for other things to do in Manchester," Flotz said.
On the Residence Inn project, demolition is expected to start as soon as next week on a nearly century-old building on the E & R Laundry and Dry Cleaners site on Central Street to make way for the six-story, 123-room hotel, according to Rick Botnick, whose family is the project's majority owner and also owns E & R.
The project lost some time when Manchester developer Dick Anagnost withdrew, citing a busy schedule of other projects.
E & R opened a new retail location at 89 Dow St. this month, closing its 55 Central St. location after 95 years.
"We're going to demolish the building and there's some (soil) remediation that needs to take place on the site," Botnick said.
He said he hopes the 16-month construction schedule can begin in November,
"I think you're looking at March of '19 if everything stays on track," Botnick said.
The project carries an approximate $25 million price tag.
E & R Cleaners employs around 225 employees, with only two or three manning the Dow Street store. The new leased space offers 3,500 square feet, nearly double the former store.
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