Hotel News | "New hotel planned close to Wolf Road"

By: Brian Nearing
Source: http://www.timesunion.com
Category: Hotel News

A local hotel magnate is planning his latest project off Wolf Road near Colonie Center.Michael Hoffman, president of Turf Hotels Inc., which owns four hotels with a total of more than 500 rooms in the Capital Region, envisions an extended-stay hotel on a 3.7-acre lot between the Macy's parking lot and the Court Club on Sand Creek Road.

Hoffman said the project could cost between $15 million and $17 million. He has a purchase contract for the property, which is owned by Macy's and has a listed selling price of $2.5 million."We have not talked to the town yet about this, but we are optimistic," he said Tuesday. "We think it would be great for Colonie Center to have affluent people staying nearby it."

The southern end of Wolf Road near the mall will also contain two new high-end grocery stores. Trader Joe's will open this spring, and Whole Foods is expected to lease part of the Sears store in Colonie Center and open by 2014.

Hoffman said he conceives of a six- or seven-story hotel, with between 100 and 120 rooms, using an extended-stay format like another Turf property, the 133-room Homewood Suites by Hilton on Wolf Road.

Hoffman also owns the franchise for Staybridge Suites, which is a possibility for the new hotel. The Staybridge Suites brand is owned by the InterContinental Hotel Group, whose other brands include Hotel Indigo, which has a location at the north end of Wolf Road, as well as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites.

The Crowne Plaza in Albany was recently sold and is being converted by its new owners into a Hilton Hotel.

Turf Hotels also owns the 121-room Holiday Inn Express on Western Avenue in Albany, the 123-room Hampton Inn Suites in Saratoga Springs and the 129-room Holiday Inn Resort in Lake George.

The Hoffman family has owned property on Wolf Road for years, where Michael Hoffman's father and uncle built the Turf Inn in 1975. Michael Hoffman was that property's general manager. It was sold in 2006.

Source: http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/New-hotel-planned-close-to-Wolf-Road-3543981.php