Windsor greenlights $14M Holiday Inn Express hotel

A Groton developer has cleared the final hurdle in his quest to build a $14-million Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hotel on former tobacco farmland in Windsor.

The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved a site plan application submitted by Jimmy Patel to erect a four-story, 108-room extended-stay hotel at 777 Day Hill Road, according to Town Planner Eric Barz.

The approval comes a month after the zoning board granted a special use permit for the development. 

According to plans, the 65,000-square-foot hotel is being built on land owned by prominent developer-landlord Mark Greenberg, who is leasing the 18-acre site to Patel, the owner/operator of the facility.

Patel could not be reached for comment Wednesday on when he plans to break ground on the development. But Patel previously told Hartford Business Journal he expected shovels in the ground by this spring.

The hotel property abuts additional land owned by Greenberg housing the Northeast’s largest fastpitch softball facility. Patel has said he’s hoping the new hotel will accommodate athletes and families participating in tournaments at the nearby complex known as Fastpitch Nation Park.

Greenberg acquired the future hotel property for more than $2.2 million in March 2019, according to land records.

The hotel property is also located near medical-device manufacturer Protedyne Corp. and offices for Hartford HealthCare. It’s also about a mile from the mixed-use Great Pond development.

Holiday Inn, which includes the division of Holiday Inn Express, currently has Connecticut locations in Rocky Hill, East Hartford, Newington, Vernon, Southington and Meriden, according to its website.

Clarification: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Fastpitch Nation Park was owned by Mark Greenberg. However, the softball venue is owned by David Rocha.