Construction on Erie’s bayfront Hampton Inn & Suites hotel expected by October

Congratulations to our client, Scott Enterprises, on plans for their new hotel in Erie, Pa, which is set to break ground in the fall of 2017. The $15 million Hampton Inn & Suites is expected to include about 105 rooms. 

Published by: Jim Martin/Erie Times-News, PA
Published date: April 2017

Construction on a new Hampton Inn & Suites planned for Erie’s bayfront won’t start this spring as originally planned.

But work on the eight-story hotel, part of a $150 million bayfront development planned by Erie-based Scott Enterprises, will start by October at the latest, said Nick Scott Sr., president of the family-owned company.

Scott Enterprises, which first announced plans for its Harbor Place development in late 2013, has a strong financial incentive to meet that deadline. Scott said $5 million in state funding rides on meeting that timetable.

Scott acknowledged Wednesday that he had hoped to break ground sooner.

“There are a lot of delays in dealing with the state, phases you have to go through,” he said, referring to a $5 million grant from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

Meeting state requirements might have slowed the project down a bit on the front end. Members of the Scott family said in November that they expected to break ground this spring. On the other hand, the state’s involvement also sets performance requirements that determine when construction has to begin.

“Once you are awarded a grant you have to follow all the rules that are involved in the grant,” Scott said. “You are on the hook in terms of when things have to be done and submitted.

“The (deadline) they have for us is October,” he continued. “We are saying it’s going to start by at least October, maybe September.”

As originally outlined, the project would include one or more hotels, a parking garage, residential space, restaurants, office and retail space, an ice-skating rink and a footbridge to carry people from UPMC Hamot over the Bayfront Connector.

A $15 million Hampton Inn & Suites, expected to include about 105 rooms, a third of which will be suites, will be the first step in the development, Scott said.

Read the entire article at Hotel Online