🔒Berlin planners approve scaled-back hotel for mixed-use development

Berlin’s Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a modified hotel plan for a mixed-use development, clearing the way for a 90-room Comfort Inn & Suites to break ground this year. The commission voted unanimously Feb. 5 to approve the four-story hotel at 404 Berlin Turnpike, with conditions requiring architectural improvements to make the building more visually appealing from the busy corridor. The proposal has been scaled-back from what was originally proposed in 2021. Initially, developer Peter D’Addeo of Rocky Hill-based Commercial Services Realty received approval for a 100-room hotel as part of the larger project. The revised plans reduce the building footprint by about 10,000 square feet while adding 20 parking spaces. “This is a great addition to the 80 or so apartments completed and the 120 apartments that are planned,” Town Manager Jason Curley wrote in a letter supporting the project. “This multi-phase development has begun to change the look of the turnpike and a hotel will enhance the area even more.” The hotel, being developed by HRP Hospitality LLC, is slated to open in spring 2027. The 52,864-square-foot hotel will include an indoor pool, fitness center and multiple conference rooms designed to accommodate small business meetings and events. Attorney Megan Hope, representing the applicant, told commissioners the reduced room count and building size still meets market demand while improving the site layout. Economic Development Director Chris Edge praised the hotel addition in a letter to the commission, noting it will serve the many corporations with offices in Berlin, including Eversource, Comcast and TOMZ Corp. The hotel represents phase four of the development, which has already delivered a convenience store and is nearing completion of 200 residential units across five buildings on the nearly 36-acre site. The project is located within Berlin’s Turnpike Development Zone, a special overlay district created in 2019 to promote mixed-use development along the commercial corridor. The commission granted D’Addeo’s initial approval in May 2021 with a condition requiring him to return for final review of the hotel once detailed plans were complete.