The hotel, expected to be completed 18 months after construction begins, will be an "upscale boutique hotel," according to The Valley News.
Amenities of the proposed 72-room hotel, which will be located on the corner of South and Main Street, currently include a restaurant, a conference room and an underground parking garage, according to the plans Olympia submitted to the Hanover Planning Board. Cook does not believe that the proposed amenities will change, though alterations to the plans are possible.
Olympia has considered Hanover as a potential hotel site for the last six to nine months, Cook said. During this time, the company conducted a study that showed there is more demand for hotel accommodations in Hanover than rooms available, Cook said.
"Our study looks at supply and demand in market -- there's more than enough demand for us to be there," Cook said.
The new hotel will not have to compete with the Hanover Inn for customers since sufficient demand for rooms will allow the two hotels to "easily coexist," Cook said.
During peak periods -- including Winter Carnival, Homecoming and Commencement -- the Hanover Inn often books all of its rooms, said Carl Pratt, the general manager of the Hanover Inn, although he did not know exactly how many days a year this was the case. An additional hotel in Hanover would not hurt business at the Hanover Inn, he said, adding that, in his experience, competition has benefited the companies he has worked for.
"I just haven't seen that in the other properties I've been involved with," Pratt said. "If you're doing a job and you're doing it well, then both benefit from competition."
While it is unlikely the Hanover Inn will change its business model, it is important for any business to be able to differentiate itself from its competitors, Pratt said.
"We would be watching what anyone who is in competition with us is doing and respond appropriately to maintain our market share," he said.
The addition of another hotel in Hanover might make people visiting the college less likely to stay at hotels in neighboring towns, Pratt said. Carol Kolenski, director of sales at the Marriott Residence Inn in Lebanon, N.H., said that the Marriott receives a "limited" number of Dartmouth visitors and therefore will probably not be greatly affected by the new hotel.
Charles Umpleby, owner of Umpleby's bakery, believes the hotel will have long-term positive effects for his business by bringing more customers to the South Street area. In the immediate future, the construction of the building will likely hurt his business, he said, because Umpleby's is situated opposite the proposed site for the hotel, and the building's construction might dissuade pedestrian traffic in the area.
He noted that many local businesses likely share his sentiment.
"In the long term, businesses will be happy. In the short term they will have very serious concerns about how construction might affect the neighborhood," Umpleby said. "My take on things is that people are cautiously optimistic."
The hotel project will attract pedestrians south of Lebanon Street and benefit businesses in this area, Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said.
"I see this as a nice project for filling out the southern part of downtown," Griffin said, referring to the construction of the hotel. "The area south of Lebanon street has always struggled to develop an identity, it's not going to hurt the area."
The town has not conducted a survey concerning the demand for hotel rooms in Hanover and did not actively seek a hotel developer for this space, Griffin said.
Griffin said she received little feedback from local residents concerning the proposed hotel. She noted, however, that certain residents may be weary of construction, which has been going on in the area for a number of years.
Many of the Olympia hotels have been built in areas with high market entry barriers, so the company is used to working with neighbors to address any issues raised during the planning process, Cook said. The local project manager for Olympia Companies has established relationships with a number of Hanover businesses and residents, and few objections have been raised to the company's plans, he added.
The hotel will be built on the same street as the Dartmouth-owned South Block development, which has recently grown to include Ramunto's restaurant, Hanover True Value hardware store and Umpleby's. The South Block development project will probably be completed in the late fall or the early winter of this year, Griffin said.
While Olympia has agreed to terms with the owner of the property, it has until this fall to conduct tests on the property and initiate the building process with the city, Cook said. The fall deadline is subject to extension, he added.
The Hanover Planning Board has scheduled a meeting to review the proposal on May 6.
