Proposed resort hotel gets liquor permit

TYNGSBORO >> In the not too distant future, the town may be the home of a multimillion-dollar, 60-room hotel and entertainment park resort on 11.5 acres off Middlesex Road, behind the new Best Friends Pet Hotel.

While still in the concept-development stage, the project received the green light from the Select Board Monday when it granted the enterprise an all-alcohol permit.

Attorney Peter Nicosia presented the proposal on behalf of his clients Malay and Himansu Patel, who are the principals of Town Spirits Inc. The Patels operate Kastore Restaurant in North Chelmsford and have other experience in the sale of alcohol, Nicosia told the Select Board.

"The resort would be like Great Wolf Lodge (in Fitchburg) or the Red Jacket Inn (in North Conway, N.H.) without the water park," Nicosia said. Instead, the Tyngsboro resort would have a largescale entertainment complex modeled on Apex Entertainment in Marlboro.

Nicosia said the hotel and entertainment park would be a destination resort bringing people to Tyngsboro for its amenities. That would make the as-yet-unnamed hotel the second destination resort in town. The Chateau Merrimack, on the Pawtucket Boulevard side of the river, opened last year with the intent of being a destination resort.

The Patels are committed to working with the town at every stage of the process. "We want it to be a true public-private partnership," Nicosia said.

Nicosia acknowledged that he was bringing the proposal to the Select Board at a very early stage in the process. He said the Patels need the license in hand as they negotiate with national hotel chains to come to Tyngsboro.

He was acting on a perception shared by board members that Tyngsboro only has one such license available.

Board member Katarina Kalabokis expressed reservations about granting the license this early. She was concerned that another enterprise might come forward which could open quickly if a license were available.

Town Manager Matt Hanson explained that the town actually has more all-alcohol licenses in its control. Several of the licenses are restricted to the town center, but one additional unrestricted license is available.

New Select Board Chair Eric Eldridge said he would support granting the license, but he called for "a roadmap to acquiring more licenses."