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East Granby Belatedly Gets First Hotel | Redesigned Mainstay Suites to go up near Bradley International Airport

Redesigned Mainstay Suites to go up near Bradley International Airport

East Granby still has no hotel. It’s about to, albeit a little later and larger than the one originally proposed.

Back in May, Simsbury developer Timothy Martin had plans in place and was ready to break ground on an 82-room Mainstay Suites-affiliated hotel near the intersection of Route 20 and Gateway Boulevard.

But a last minute decision to build the hotel on a full foundation — rather than a solid concrete slab — forced Martin to head “back to the drawing board” and seek a new permit to build a bigger hotel.

All told, the revised version of the hotel will feature 80-rooms instead of 82, and 60,000 square feet of space over the originally planned 40,000.

The extra space will be used at first for storage, Martin said. But down the line, he hopes to convert it into conference or other space.

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The hotel marks Martin’s first foray into building commercial property, although the Simsbury native has developed a number of residential properties in Fairfield County. The optimistic builder also has a sense of humor: He named the LLC which will build and run the hotel, “Ken and Will Dew Construction and Development.”

Martin expects to have the foundation poured on the hotel by next month.

When done, the Hotel of East Granby by Mainstay Suites will sit less than a mile from Bradley Airport.

Although Martin expects a sizable portion of his guests to come from Bradley, Martin expects most of the rooms will be filled by guests coming from one of several nearby

business parks.

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“We don’t necessarily need the airport,” Martin said.

Walgreen’s owns a 750,000-square-foot distribution center three lots down the street in Windsor. FedEx, Domino’s and other major companies also have sizable facilities nearby. Martin is counting on traveling corporate clients to stay nights in his new hotel.

Another big draw: local residents looking for a place to hold a wedding or function – something that would definitely improve with the added basement space, he said. It’s one of the main reasons that the hotel will be “country-ish” in its design, Martin added.

“A lot of larger firms have been looking at the western side of the airport since I got my approvals,” he said. “Several tried to buy me out, but I wasn’t selling. There’s a tremendous amount of business coming in here, and I think we’re poised to do well.”

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