Ithaca Builds « Canopy by Hilton «

The downtown Hampton Inn project has chosen to be one of the first eleven hotels in the US and London to build the newly-released Canopy by Hilton. As issued in Hilton’s press release last week, the Ithaca Commons project will take part in Hilton’s new lifestyle brand, which plans to cater to travelers that would like a more local, and leisurely experience. The renders released last month by the project team of Baywood Hotels, Architects Group One Partners, and Whitham Planning and Design seem to reflect the Canopy branding and design approach.

The planned seven-story hotel sits in roughly the footprint of the former Strand Theatre (parking lot behind the Carey Building) and the City’s municipal parking lot. The ground floor would include a 2,000 square foot restaurant tenant, a cafe/retreat area, and hotel programming space and the second floor is planned to contain a fitness room, board room, and meeting room. Guest rooms would fill the remaining portion of the second floor and all the way up to the seventh, along with a roof terrace. The project is currently in site plan review at the City of Ithaca Planning Board.

Here’s the press kit portion explaining the amenities, along with the September render and plan release:

A revised sketch plan proposal was presented by Scott Whitham of Whitham Planning and Design at the last City of Ithaca Planning Board Meeting, and below are some shots from the presentation along with a link to the PDF.

The proposed site spans across the former Strand Theatre lot (behind the Carey Building), which is now private parking, and the two lots of municipal parking owned by the City and Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (the IURA owns the northern portion, and the City, the southern portion). The project team will be moving towards conversations with the IURA and the City with the aim of divestiture so that the land can be developed. Although Hampton Inn projects are typically suburban, there are a few examples around the country that are designed and adapted to a more urban setting, which is the intent of this new project design. The ground floor would have program space for the hotel, and ~2,000 SF retail/restaurant facing Seneca Way, and the upper floors would be hotel rooms.

Ithacating has an article on the first submission here.