SUNY Delhi secures state approval to build hotel
Oct. 15—Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill Friday, Oct. 8, that allows for the exchange of properties between the College Foundation at Delhi and SUNY Delhi as the first step to build a hotel in the village of Delhi.
State Sen. Mike Martucci, R-New Hampton; and Assemblyman Brian Miller, R-New Hartford; sponsored bills to allow the transfer, and it was passed in June.
They issued a joint statement that read: "We are pleased to announce that Governor Hochul has signed our legislation to transfer a portion of State-owned property to SUNY Delhi. On the surface, this may seem like a small issue, but it is a key step in allowing the college to move forward on a major hotel project that will bring jobs and investment to the region. It has been a pleasure to work with Dr. Laliberte and his leadership team on this bill, and we appreciate his long-term vision for SUNY Delhi as well as his commitment to helping the wider community. We stand ready to offer any other assistance that we can in order to ensure that the State is a strong partner for SUNY Delhi and all of Delaware County."
Dawn Sohns, vice president for marketing and communications at SUNY Delhi, said: "This is the very first step in a major process."
She said "a separate formal approval process through the SUNY Board of Trustees will now commence to finalize the transfer."
Sohns said that while the approval process continues, the foundation's representatives will talk with "interested partners, including representatives from the village, town, county, Delhi Chamber of Commerce, Delaware County Economic Development Office, and other local elected officials to discuss the many opportunities and economic development benefits the project offers to the greater Delhi community."
She said the land in question is the Brown Athletics Field on Main Street, adjacent to McDonald's. According to the bills passed, the amount of land being transferred to the College Foundation is 7.28 acres. She said the athletic fields would be moved, but as the plans are in the early stages, that won't happen for a while.
"There are multiple steps in this process, and so the timeline has not been discussed at this time," she said.
According to the bills, the College Foundation at Delhi, Inc. "would exchange four parcels of land to be put to future academic purposes with a parcel of state-owned land located in the Town of Delhi."
The four parcels described in the bills are as follows:
Parcel 1: 238.66 acres along state Route 10, known as the Sherwood Mountain Farm Irrevocable Trust.
Parcel 2: 180.19 acres along Arbor Hill Road.
Parcel 3: 6.86 acres along state Route 28.
Parcel 4: 38.20 acres along Arbor Hill Road.
Sohns said "the foundation will seek to develop a long-term lease agreement with a hotel company for the construction, operation, and management of the hotel, it will maintain ownership of the land. The details of the size of the hotel will be determined based on a comprehensive study of community needs and market factors."
The hotel will be beneficial to students.
"Having a new hotel within walking distance from campus will create a number of internship and applied learning opportunities for students in many of our academic programs at SUNY Delhi, including hotel and restaurant management, event management, culinary arts, and business," SUNY Delhi President Michael R. Laliberte said in a media release.
Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.
