Hotel plan sent back to drawing board
Glastonbury officials concerned over how early design fits in
GLASTONBURY – The Claremont Company is proposing to build a contemporary four-story, 141-unit hotel on the last remaining empty parcel in the late 20th century Somerset Square development.
But is it too modern?
That’s what many on the town council and town plan and zoning commission say now that the early proposal by the Bridgewater, Mass. company — under the name 75 Glastonbury Land LLC — has been reviewed. The company is proposing to build a Marriott AC Hotel that includes modern guest rooms, the latest technology and a “social buzz by night,” with bartenders “with local expertise” serving tapas plates. In the morning, “Europeaninspired” breakfasts are served.
One of the biggest concerns was making the hotel fit with the architecture of the northeast portion of Somerset Square, a development built in the 1980s. The company was told to go back to the drawing board after the cold look of grey and steel mixed in with the mainly brick and green of Somerset Square did not win much support.
At a recent meeting, Councilwoman Mary LaChance was blunt and called the drawings “ugly and depressing.” Others called the renditions “stark.” Commission Chairwoman Sharon Purtill said a truly transitional building would complement some of the elements of Somerset Square.
“It appears very gray,” she said. “[Somerset Square] has withstood the test of time. I know it’s dated at this point, but still looks pretty good. Transitional is something that fits in. We aren’t looking for a mirror image, but it needs to blend in a bit more and more in keeping with Somerset Square.”
Councilman Stewart “Chip” Beckett III said he doesn’t like the “stainless steel look I see in New York City.”
“I know architects like it,” he said. “But a red brick would complement it
and blend in with the community. For a community that prides itself on historic things, I think we want evolution, not a radical change over.”
This is the fifth proposal by a developer of the parcel since 2008, In 2017, the company presented plans to build a four-story, 100-unit apartment building to the south of the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites hotels, but it never went anywhere.
The company owns the neighboring Homewood Suites, a six-story, 136-room hotel, to the north, which had an 80-90 percent occupancy rate June through October, according to the developer’s attorney Peter Alter. The company owns nine hotels across the northeast and is currently building a 10th. There is an AC Marriott Hotel in Worcester, Mass., Portsmouth, N.H., and Brighton, Mass. The hotels have contemporary architecture and are located close to cities and major highways.
“There has been a tremendous amount of opportunity for much more contemporary development to bring to this part of Glastonbury,” Alter said, noting the nearby new Shoppes On Main development.
“There’s been very positive activity along this part of Main Street,” Alter said. “The business model is to attract business travelers, but also the discerning travelers who are interested in a more upscale opportunity for a stay when they are traveling. The accessibility to both Hartford and New Haven made this an ideal opportunity. ... It’s exactly a perfect fit for its business model.”
Alter said the development is an “opportunity to create a transitional element between what was built in the 1980s and what is being built and developed on Main Street and create jobs, increase the tax base and “meet a need that clearly has been identified.”