Hotel, Harvey's coming

Visitors to Thunder Bay could have a new place to sleep as soon as next Christmas.

Steve Gupta, CEO of the Easton’s Group of Hotels, on Friday confirmed he plans to build a 142-unit Town Place Suite Hotel on property adjacent to the Superstore parking lot.

The development will also include two restaurants being built by Mississauga’s Thompson Centres Inc. Gupta said one will a Harvey’s Restaurant and the other will likely carry either the Earl’s or the Milestone franchise tag. A retail component is also expected to be part of the multi-million development.

“All the suites are equipped with kitchens,” Gupta said, reached by phone. “This brand is called an all-suite brand with an extended stay kitchen with a full fridge, dishwasher, a ceramic cook-top and a convection microwave oven.”

The award-winning Gupta added the rooms are aimed at housing guests who come to town for two and three months at a time.

“We built a hotel a year ago in Sudbury, the same one, and this will be the second Mariott of this brand,” Gupta said.
“There are about 70 Mariott hotels in Canada, but the Town Place suites, I was the first one to build it.”

The development is also expected to contain a retail component, but first must get the approval of city council.

Developers are expected to appear before council on Feb. 27 seeking bylaw amendments to allow the project to go ahead.
It’s not the first time the Mariott brand has been proposed for the Intercity area. In the mid-2000s developers proposed to build a hotel there, but plans were ultimately scrapped for a variety of reasons.

City planner Robert Eady said the amendments are required under the city's official plan.

"They're varying such things as height, parking and some of the setbacks on the yards," Eady said.

The land is presently owned by Loblaws, which owns and operates the Superstore.