Is Two Too Many?

That’s the Question the Village Board Needs to Consider When it Votes Monday

SARANAC LAKE, NY – The vision of the Roedel Companies was to restore a community center for the people of Saranac Lake when it agreed to purchase and begin refurbishing the Hotel Saranac in 2013.

That is still our vision and will continue to be. We are excited to open the hotel and give the village the showcase the Hotel Saranac was intended to be when it first opened in 1927.

We hope the Village Board feels the same way after Monday’s public hearing when it is expected to vote on special zoning affecting a proposed hotel on Lake Flower Avenue. The legal aspects of this vote will be left to the Board and the litigators, but you should understand that the future development of Saranac Lake could be at stake.

We feel it is important to reiterate that New York State awarded the Hotel Saranac project a $5 million economic development grant – by far the largest grant awarded for a project of this kind in this region. We have worked with the Village Board and planners to ensure that our entire process has been done transparently and properly. We asked for no special favors, no changes in ordinances. We have invested significant dollars to date, additionally seeking and receiving local bank financing for the project.

When we assessed our parking situation, it was obvious the hotel’s current parking was insufficient, so we committed to building a garage deck on site. We made sure the parking neither detracted from the historic renovation nor adversely affected downtown business. We also made sure we didn’t alter the landscape or sightlines of the village through alterations we made.

The public support for the Hotel Saranac restoration has been palpable, which we believe is due to our family’s strong bond in this community that dates back to the 1890s. My mother grew up here and both of my grandfathers came to Saranac Lake to be treated for tuberculosis. My mother’s father, Dr. Henry Leetch, was cured and stayed in town as the TB specialist while my great-grandfather worked for Paul Smith’s Electric Company.

Our deep roots in Saranac Lake are the reason why we took on the Hotel Saranac project. The Roedel Companies have 45 years of experience owning, developing, constructing, managing and designing hotels. We primarily own and operate nationally branded hotels primarily, but the Hotel Saranac is different.

We saw this not only as a business opportunity, but an opportunity to give back to a community that has meant so much to us. Our planning process has been a detailed and thoughtful one, intended to redevelop the Hotel Saranac as a vibrant and economically productive partner with the Village of Saranac Lake.

We have serious concerns about building two upscale hotels in Saranac Lake and it has nothing to do with competition. We have successfully owned and operated hotels in competitive markets throughout the United States. No matter where we have gone, we always research the history of that market.

The Hotel Saranac has gone bankrupt a number of times, but will flourish as an upscale, historic four-star hotel, providing real economic benefits to the community. An investment of $17.5 million is necessary to develop an upscale four-star hotel, an amount based on the current market depths and history that is not supportable through private debt and equity alone. The state’s $5 million grant was critically important to making this project happen.

The history of the Hotel Saranac when it was operated by Paul Smith’s College showed room demand to be in the vicinity of 13,000 rooms rented annually, which was about 40 percent occupancy. Based on our research, we expect to sell 24,000 rooms annually, which is 64 percent of the total rooms available at the Hotel Saranac. At that occupancy and with room rates equal to the current market, this project is profitable.

Potentially adding 90 more rooms with another like hotel project would not measurably increase the demand for lodging in Saranac Lake, but it would, without question, lower the reliability of success for both projects. A seemingly more prudent approach would be to see if the need comes close to exceeding capacity at one hotel and monitoring its success before building a second.

The three motels the proposed Lake Flower Avenue project would replace catered to a different customer than the Hotel Saranac, avoiding oversaturation. The Hotel Saranac is an upscale gateway to the Adirondacks and a centerpiece of the village meant to host unforgettable events like weddings, proms and company retreats.
What is most important, it is being developed and positioned to be an economic stimulus to the downtown businesses and the Village of Saranac Lake. We hope the Village Board shows Monday that it still supports that position.

Respectively submitted,

Fred B. Roedel III
Managing Member
Roedel Companies, LLC