SWAMPSCOTT — The Select Board voted unanimously to designate Clearview Investment Management Inc. as the developer for the Hadley School Hotel project.
Clearview’s original presentation included a site plan with 58 guest rooms and 83 parking spaces, with a multi-functional rooftop space with three suites, a dining bar, and an event space. In contrast with their two competitors, Clearview has yet to name an architectural firm they are partnering with for the project.
Board Chair David Grishman revealed at Monday night’s meeting that he and fellow Select Board member Peter Spellios recently drove to West Hartford, Conn., to experience the Delamar Hotel there. He said this trip helped him come to the conclusion that Clearview was the best option for Swampscott.
“We got there, and it felt like home,” Grishman said. “It felt warm, it felt welcoming… it wasn’t the stuffy space. It really had that sense of place within the West Hartford community.”
Grishman added that Mallory’s emphasis on preserving the Hadley structure and the annex during their original presentation is also important to him. Select Board member Doug Thompson said that total structural preservation can lead to a lesser chance of unsatisfactory results.
“By them working with the building envelope as it is, that’s what we’re all used to. We’re all comfortable with that,” Thompson said. “In some ways, they haven’t pushed us to what may be the possibilities beyond that, but we also know, generally speaking, the frame of what we’re getting.”
Spellios said an important component for him was that Delamar’s primary source of revenue comes from the guests’ rooms as opposed to food and beverage.
“There were material differences between the proposals relative to their reliance on food and beverage versus room rate,” Spellios said. “The rooms are what drive the experience there (Delamar).”
Linscott Park is slated to be incorporated into the hotel property in some form, and the board expressed a joint desire to preserve the trees that are currently at the park.
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald expanded on news that the parking lot of Saint John the Evangelist Church has been made available for future use of hotel guests on non-mass days. He credited Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher for her work in creating a partnership with the church. Fletcher revealed that she is in contact with other churches who may also share their parking lot.
Spellios suggested that the board lay out a full timeline of the project’s process at a meeting in the near future.
