PAC backs exemption for hotel - Hilton Building to be located beside convention centre

The approval process that will see a Hilton Garden Inn property developed beside Fredericton's downtown convention centre is on track. The planning advisory committee is recommending a height exemption to allow the 126-room hotel to reach 36 metres.

City council has set May 10 at 7:30 p.m. as the time to present the proposed zoning bylaw to allow for the height alteration. At that meeting, council will then set a date to hold a public hearing of objections on the project and to proceed to first and second reading of the bylaw.

Dora Construction is the contractor on the project. The hotel builder is D.P. Murphy Inc. of Charlottetown, P.E.I. The company most recently built the Hampton Inn in Moncton, which is a Hilton Hotel product.

It has developed the Charlottetown Super 8 Motel and two Holiday Inn Express hotels in Charlottetown and Saint John. The company also runs Tim Hortons and Wendy's franchises.

The 11-storey hotel will be of similar height to the Bank of Montreal building. Even though the Bank of Montreal only has nine storeys, the way it was built with allowance for servicing conduit space will make the two structures comparable in height.

The Hilton Garden Inn will have a 60-seat restaurant and 30-seat cocktail lounge. It's expected to take 12 to 14 months to build, plus an allowance for design time.

Following is a link to the Daily Gleaner article on the issue
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/front/article/1036705