Hyatt coming to town

Tony Tozzi, director of the building and planning department for the town, said the permit was issued in October. The sewer and water infrastructure is in place and Tozzi said there is progress everyday.

“Malta will have good stand for hotels with the Hyatt and Fairfield,” Tozzi said.

The five-story, 120 room hotel will be the second in the town, joining the Fairfield Inn by Marriott located on the other side of the Northway. The Hyatt is on a 5-acre parcel within the original State Farm Planned Development District.

Michael Cleary, a partner of Malta Hospitality LLC, said they are making good headway on the project and have a projection of July 2008 for an opening. Malta Hospitality is the developer of the project.

“Hyatt has a good track record and we expect it to do well based on the Saratoga market and the anticipation of Advanced Micro Devices,” Cleary said.

The coming of AMD is not the reasoning for Hyatt looking at the area for a hotel, but Cleary said it’d be a major bonus to the site and area. The Northway location was key in the hotel coming to Malta. He said the county as a whole is vibrant and Hyatt is a good fit for the community.

Cleary said the foundation is done and the hotel will begin going up shortly. He said the 3,000 square-foot banquet hall and conference facility will compliment a need in the town. The addition of Hyatt in Malta will bring about 40 part-time and full-time jobs to the area.

The hotel will have a 65-seat restaurant, fitness facility, indoor pool and 148 parking spaces.

There is a 300-foot buffer between the hotel and the Northway and a 200 feet buffer from Route 67.

The town required an attractive landscape for the project and Cleary said the landscaping is part of the appeal of a good hotel. The closest Hyatt Place Hotel is in Connecticut, according to Cleary.

Supervisor Paul Sausville said with the Hyatt Hotel being built and the approval of Ellsworth Commons, a 22 town home, 73,000 square feet of retail space and 310 residential rental units and lofts, the downtown district is slowly being developed.

“The town is in a state of transition right now,” Sausville said. “We are at a crossroads.”

He said Hyatt will add supportive jobs to the town and bring in new residents.

Sausville said everyone on the board is in agreement the town wants a downtown district, but the vision is unclear.

Sausville said the town is holding a meeting on the future of the town and direction it will take for the future. The meeting is at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10 at the Community Center. He said the board is asking for the opinions of residents and encourages all to attend.

Sausville said the town is somewhat divided on what the vision is. He said with the anticipation of AMD coming to the Luther Forest Technology Campus, many more developers are looking at Malta.

He said AMD would bring jobs to the area and now he wants retail shops for residents to frequent.

“Our goal is to keep a balance,” Sausville said. “The town has a lot of questions to think about.”

He said residents tell him they like Malta the way it is and don’t want to be like Latham or Saratoga Springs.

“We have to control our destiny,” he said.