Review Board OKs Hotel Plans

Renderings of the Northport Hotel were presented before the village architectural review board and approved at the beginning of October.

By Sophia Ricco
sricco@longislandergroup.com

After gaining approval from the village architectural review board, the Northport Hotel is one committee away from making co-owners, Richard Dolce and Kevin O’Neill’s vision of a quaint place to stay in Northport a reality.

The duo received approval from the Northport village architectural review board on Oct. 3, following a public review session. At the meeting, residents gave their opinions on the latest rendition of the building that had been updated to give it a more residential feel. The shingle style siding received a positive response as did other revisions that were made.

“In an effort to incorporate some components of the design of the Conklin House, the original house that is on the site that was encased with masonry structures” O’Neill said. “The board had asked me to see if we could incorporate the beautiful window design that is at the top.”

He instructed Hoffman Grayson Architects to “make the hotel look more charming.” Inspiration for the updated design came from images of harbor town hotels in other locations, making it “tastefully crafted.” Also, after O’Neill expressed concerns about the village’s poor drainage system and flooding on Main Street, the entrance was moved to the corner to the building.

The designs resonated with the community and the review board voted that night to approve the project, as long as no significant changes are made to the design or materials.

“We are on our way, we are very happy to have that part completed and we are now onto the planning board,” O’Neill said.

The next undertaking, securing approval from the planning board, will get underway in the next few months, according to O’ Neill. The owners will be presenting a revised application on Oct. 23 with hopes the board will call for a public hearing at the next meeting, Nov. 27.

“My hope is that we can wrap this up by the end of November… If that were to pan out the timeline would be in December to start doing asbestos abatement, during January take the building down, and then go right into construction in February,” O’Neill said.

As long as there are no hiccups in construction, the goal is to have the hotel up and running within a year of starting the build.

“We’ve been able to demo for some time now but wanted to wait until after the summer because it would be too disruptive during the peak season for merchants, so we didn’t want to disrupt business activity,” O’Neill said.

Once the hotel is open, O’Neill hopes it will stimulate further offseason activity in Northport. The hotel will have around 25 rooms and suites, as well as a full restaurant on the ground level.

“I think it will invigorate year round activity from a business standpoint, particularly the off-season. Northport is not as seasonal as people think it to be,” O’Neill said.

He believes the hotel will “make all of Northport proud” by giving people an opportunity to visit Northport, while shopping and dining at local locations. The hotel offers almost 50 parking spots on site.

“Not every hotel needs to be a 200 room hotel on the LIE, there’s a charming ambience that you can’t replicate in those locations that you can in a downtown harbor town, like Northport,” O’Neill said.

The building will replace the former Conklin family home that currently lies beneath years is masonry additions. O’Neill said the Conklin family and public is happy to see a more attractive building planned for the site.

“This will bring back a place for lodging, which Northport had 125 years ago,” O’Neill said. “There were beautiful hotels right on Main Street.”