The family that owns Montpelier’s Capitol Plaza hopes to open another hotel right behind its existing hotel on State Street.
While Gov. Phil Scott and Mayor John Hollar were among those who spoke during the announcement, the headliner was Capitol Plaza owner Fred Bashara.
He says the Hilton Hotel Corporation awarded his family business the franchise for Hampton Inn & Suites.
"We’re going to construct an 84-room hotel at the rear of our parking lot," Bashara explains. "Adjacent to that will be a parking structure. We’re going to tear up the parking lot that you see out there now and landscape it, beautify it, make a new roadway, easier traffic."
The project still needs to go through the permitting process, but Bashara says he hopes to break ground in the spring.
The new five-story hotel, including a pool and fitness center, will face Taylor Street and extend back into the parking lot behind the Capital Plaza, next to the railroad tracks. A proposed parking garage would be located behind the Episcopal Church.
Bashara says the Capitol Plaza will remain open, and undergo renovations this spring.
