The Lake Placid Quality Inn is seen here in March from Saranac Avenue. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board took no action last week on a proposed rebuild of the Saranac Avenue Quality Inn.

The rebuild, proposed by Dual Development LLC, would see the existing hotel demolished and rebuilt on the same footprint. The company plans to rebrand the hotel under the Hilton Tru-Homewood Suites banner and more than double the number of rooms, from 92 to 191.

Of those rooms, 90 are expected to be Home2 extended-stay suites, and 93 would be Tru by Hilton rooms, which are “mid-priced” and “marketed to younger tech-savvy and design-minded travelers on a budget,” according to a report from the North Country Regional Economic Development Council.

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Board suggests changes

At the review board’s meeting last Wednesday, board president Bill Hurley offered a variety of suggestions for ways the plans could be improved.

Hurley suggested the developers remove the porte cochere attached to the current check-in building on Saranac Avenue. The company plans to relocate the check-in office to the rebuilt hotel farther up Peninsula Way Road.

Hurley said keeping the porte cochere where it is would likely create confusion for guests and, as a result, impact traffic on Saranac Avenue.

“It’s going to be a nuisance,” he said. “If that’s not removed, people are going to pull in thinking it’s the office then pull back out onto Saranac Avenue.”

Hurley also said removing the porte cochere would improve the look of the streetscape.

“I’m telling you, it’s a big issue for me because that’s what people are going to see on your property,” he said. “You have an empty storefront.”

Aaron Ovios, president of engineering firm Robert M. Sutherland, said the developers were reluctant to remove the porte cochere because they believe it wouldn’t improve the look of the building, and the overhang would still serve its purpose for guests staying there.

Hurley asked the developer to find ways to improve the flow of stormwater runoff on the property. He said as it stands now, water flows onto neighbors’ properties, and the rebuild creates an opportunity to mitigate that.

He also suggested developers find a way to notify neighbors of specific times when blasting will happen on-site. The blasting process — which will reshape the cliffside overlooking Paradox Bay — is expected to last two to three weeks, with two to three blasts per day. The company contracted to do the blasting expects upward of 10 trucks carrying material leaving the site per day.

Hurley said the company plans to crush rock on-site, which he said poses a bigger concern than the blasting itself.

“It’s a huge noise issue,” he said.

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Site visit scheduled

Tupper Lake-based attorney Kirk Gagnier, who is representing Dual Development, requested that the review board move forward the process of reviewing the company’s plan by issuing a negative SEQR declaration, which would indicate that the project poses no significant environmental impact.

The board took no action.

Hurley scheduled a site visit for Wednesday, Dec. 18, which he said will allow the board to better visualize planned changes.

The hotel rebuild is projected to cost around $30 million and create 51 new jobs, according to a progress report from the North Country Regional Economic Development Council.

As Dual Development seeks the joint review board’s approval, the NCREDC is seeking a $6 million state grant to help fund this project. That multi-million dollar ask is the largest request among this year’s 11 NCREDC priority projects.