WILKES-BARRE TWP. — Construction work on another hotel continues on a prime piece of land near Mohegan Sun Arena.
J&M Construction Specialty Inc. of Williamsport is building the four-story, 110-room Residence Inn off Highland Park Boulevard.
The contractor has been pouring concrete footers and construction is expected to be nearly complete by the end of the year, said Tom Zedolik, zoning officer for Wilkes-Barre Twp. J&M Construction also built the nearby Courtyard by Marriott hotel on Schechter Drive, he said.
Soon, work will start to build another hotel in the area. Zedolik recently issued a permit for work to start on a Home2Suites by Hilton 4-story hotel with 106 rooms on more than four acres of land next to Highland Park Senior Living.
The new hotels add to a cluster of lodging facilities throughout that area. In all, there are 43 hotels in Luzerne County, according to Visit Luzerne County.
Zedolik said he thinks the location is popular for hotels because it’s good place for travelers to get off Interstate 81 and spend the night and they have a choice of a multitude of restaurants to eat and stores to shop.
“They must do the research to build them. They wouldn’t build them if they didn’t expect them to be filled,” Zedolik said. “From talking to hotel managers in the area, they say they are full most of the time.”
Allentown developer Minu Desai submitted the plans for the Home2Suites by Hilton and would own it.
The hotel would be located near a Hilton Garden Inn on Highland Park Boulevard. Desai said Home2Suites by Hilton differs from the Hilton Garden Inn because it offers more of an extended stay experience with kitchens and roomy suites.
Singh Realty owns 10 acres of property on Highland Park Bouelvard and Residence Inn will occupy about a third of that land, Zedolik said.
Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate, which represents Singh Realty, is trying to sell two adjacent parcels.
Elsewhere in Wilkes-Barre Twp., Zedolik said he issued permits for work to start to demolish the former Country Ski & Sports building at 1080 Wilkes-Barre Twp. Blvd. and four properties behind them. He expects that work to start soon to make way for a new Burger King.
A Turkey Hill convenience store and car wash is planned at the opposite side of the intersection.
Turkey Hill’s parent company, the EG Group, purchased the Bones Bar property, the former Bones Gas Station and four residential homes and plans to demolish the properties for the development, which is part of a plan to redo the intersection at Route 309 and Blackman Street.
Officials from the state Department of Transportation have begun designing an intersection improvement project at Blackman Street and state Route 309 in Wilkes-Barre Twp., PennDOT spokesman Michael Taluto said recently.
The cost of the intersection improvement has not yet been determined but the project is scheduled to be put out for bid in December and will start in 2021, Taluto said.
The project will include the addition of two left lanes toward the Mountain Top area, he said. That is expected to ease traffic backups that occur for vehicles turning left after coming off Interstate 81.
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