By Mark Scheer Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Wed Oct 26, 2011, 12:06 AM EDT
NIAGARA FALLS — Local hotelier Faisal Merani has not yet identified a chain restaurant for his Holiday Inn property on Buffalo Avenue, but he’s working on it.
Representatives from Merani’s company are asking the city’s planning board to approve a site plan for a 7,800-square-foot, one-story restaurant addition at the Holiday Inn located at 114 Buffalo Ave. Site plan approval would allow the company to obtain building permits necessary for construction.
Merani has previously said the project is being designed to draw a national chain restaurant, similar to the TGI Friday’s that opened earlier this year at the Sheraton at the Falls Hotel off Old Falls Street. On Tuesday, he said he has not yet pinned down a particular chain, but wants to advance the project through the planning process so the site is ready for one in 2012.
“There’s still no chain yet,” Merani said. “We’re just moving forward to make sure we can be open for next year.”
The proposed expansion garnered a lot of attention — and some criticism — earlier this year when it was announced that the city and the state-run USA Niagara Development Corp. had authorized $1.1 million in assistance for the project. It is part of a larger $3.8 million expansion of the hotel that calls for the new restaurant, a new retail area, an expanded lobby and guest rooms. Representatives from Merani’s design team are expected to provide an overview of the restaurant expansion during tonight’s planning board meeting which begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
James Bragg, a planner and historic preservation specialist with the city’s planning department, said documents submitted by the company as part of the request for site plan approval do not describe the type of restaurant to be located on site, only elements of the expansion itself.
“There’s no indication of what it’s going to be,” Bragg said.
The level of public subsidy for the project was criticized by state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, who questioned the number of full-time, permanent jobs that would be created in exchange for the financial support from the city and USA Niagara, which agreed to provide $550,000 each to the project.
Supporters, including Mayor Paul Dyster, argued that the hotel upgrade will not only create new jobs, but support a larger effort to improve the appeal of the downtown area.
“In terms of what we are trying to do downtown, getting this building built out is going to just add to the density of development along that corridor and create a much more urban feel there,” Dyster said.
Dyster also noted that the Merani family has a strong reputation having successfully owned and operated hotels on both sides of the border in Niagara Falls for decades. The Holiday Inn project is one of three the family has undertaken on the American side. Merani is also the owner of the former Inn on the River, now known as the Sheraton by Four Points, located at 7001 Buffalo Ave. His company is also currently working on a renovation project at the former Fallside Hotel and Conference Center at 401 Buffalo Ave.
“We are leveraging substantial development, not just on this project,” Dyster said.
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