Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Zukin seeks to build new hotel on Gay Street
110-room hotel would be located at site of former Rite-Aid building
WEST CHESTER » During Wednesday’s meeting, Zukin Realty Inc. representatives presented updated plans to Smart Growth Committee members to build a 110-room hotel on Gay Street, at the site of the former Rite-Aid building.
Committee member Bill Scott agreed with the Zukin team that the proposed structure differs little from plans as dictated in a 2015 court settlement agreement.
Council will hold an executive session to discuss the project on July 13, and Scott Zukin is hopeful that council will make a decision at the July voting session on Wednesday.
With new plans, the hotel would rise 83 feet (the same height as the Chestnut Street Garage) instead of 91 feet, which is in line with a 2015 court settlement agreement. Updated plans call for seven stories instead of eight, and 110 rooms rather than 124, for a vision that the builder and council were close to agreeing to in a 2017 plan, according to Zukin attorney Brian Nagle.
The building would set back four and half feet from the property line, at the rear of the building, on Prescott Alley. Windows would be added on the north side, where there was previously no such plans.
Onix Hospitality Group would
form a partnership with Zukin. Onix runs six hotels, with plans to build others. The company operates the Hampton Inn at Rt. 202/Rt. 1 and the Hilton Garden and Marriot Fairfield in Kennett Square.
Zukin and Onix hope to offer a first-floor restaurant facing Gay Street, with a full liquor license.
There would be no onsite parking; guests and employees would be expected to park at the Chestnut Street Garage.
The former Spence Building, next door to the former Rite-Aid, is no longer part of the project, and rehabilitation would be entirely separate from plans for the hotel.
The developer might take advantage of the Historic Tax Credit program for the Spence Building with a possible 20 percent of eligible improvement expenses offset by federal tax liability.