Commissions, Council, Give Stamp of Approval For Danville Hotel Project Proposal

Initial plans for the much anticipated Danville Hotel project received a stamp of approval from town officials Tuesday night.

"This is the epicenter of the downtown and the anchor of the downtown," said town councilwoman Candace Andersen."I'm in favor of us moving forward expeditiously and getting the approval we need."

The Town Council, Planning Commission, Heritage Resource Commission and Design Review Board met to review a proposal for the project that would wrap around Hartz, Prospect and Railroad Avenues and Short Street.

The project would retain the historic Danville Hotel building and the building to the right, the McCauley house, with some modifications. The project would completely remove the buildings that currently house Papyrus on Hartz Avenue and Yard Art, Design on the Line, Dragon Fly Studio, Hoot 'n Holler and Fabulous Draperies on Prospect Avenue. The plan would also demolish the vacant buildings on Railroad Avenue and Short Street.

The space would make way for 2,300 square feet of offices, 5,700 square feet of restaurant space, 9,425 square feet of retail and 16,915 square feet of 14 for-sale condominium units.

The residential units would be above retail and restaurant space on Prospect and Railroad Avenues and ten of the units would surround an interior open courtyard.

"I'm excited about the residential component and I think the idea of people living and working downtown is important to revitalize the downtown," said Town Manager Joe Calabrigo.

Said Town Councilman Newell Arnerich, "We've been talking about getting residential downtown for so many years."

The key downtown property is owned by a partnership between Castle Properties and the Neron Company. Castle, run by longtime Danville resident Thomas Baldacci, also owns other residential, retail and office properties in town.

"We know this is a very important project so we will make the kind of commitment and effort that will reflect this community," said Baldacci at the meeting.

Town officials say residents have long anticipated seeing plans for the project move forward.

"If I had a dime for every time someone asked me about what was going on with the Danville Hotel, I could buy a nice steak dinner right now," said Town Manager Joe Calabrigo. "The economy went from transitioning, to worse, and these plans along with most of the other plans in town got put on the shelf."

A previous proposal for the project in 2008 included underground parking and more office spaces, however, due to the recession that project was no longer financially viable.

The current proposal has less office space and does not have the previous plan's third story. The current plan does have the previous plan's mix of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor.

"The footprint is about the same," said Chief of Planning Kevin Gailey. "It is nice to see a fairly large project on the drawing board."

The next step is for a final set of drawings to be made for the full project. Then, says Gailey, the project could be before the Heritage Resource Commission, Planning Commission and Design Review Board in about four to six  months for approval to prepare the site improvement and site detail plans.

Said Gailey, "The town is very happy with the direction the project is going."

See the attached documents for the project plans and agenda presented at the meeting.