At a recent meeting of the Republic Airport Commission, airport board member Steve Lewis announced that BBL Construction Services and JMA Properties, who partnered to form Columbia Hospitality, are a prospective tenant for a five-acre parcel located on airport property. The contractors plan to construct a 120-room business class hotel, Stay Bridge Suites of the Holiday Inn line.

Brian Cohan from Columbia Hospitality explained the proposal to commission and audience members, saying that Columbia Hospitality hopes to construct at least Stay Bridge Suites, and possibly a Marriott Courtyard Hotel either at the same time or soon after the Stay Bridge Suites is built.

Cohan explained that benefits of constructing a hotel on airport property would include, among other things, generating 75 to 100 full-time jobs for local residents and attracting more businesses to the area because the hotel would improve the infrastructure. Cohan added that the hotel would generate a tax revenue for the area as well.

The location where the hotel is to be built is by the old entrance road to Route 110, by the SUNY Aviation Space, where the airport restaurant entrance is now. Currently, there is an expected 12 to 15 month tentative building schedule contractors need in order to complete the hotel, followed by a 30 day cleanup period.

Columbia Hospitality felt Long Island was a top performing hotel market since there is such a shortage of rooms in the area. According to Cohan, the company looked into the market in nearby facilities, and found that both the Hilton, located on Route 110 in Huntington and the Marriott in Melville are booked fairly constantly. He added that if approved for the construction of the hotel, Columbia Hospitality will be 100 percent compliant with town zoning codes, and will ensure that landscaping of areas surrounding the hotel property are consistently looked after.

"We have to go after our product more," Cohan explained, "we will make sure it is looked after."

Residents at the meeting showed concern mainly regarding the appearance of the hotel and its surrounding areas. One resident said that she hopes the company will hold true to its guarantee of maintaining the area around the hotel.

Another resident spoke of the appearance of Extended Stay America, a long-term housing facility much like a hotel which accommodates guests who need a place to stay for several nights, weeks, possibly months or longer. "It looks like a horror," the resident said of the facility, "like there's no landscaping done, just concrete everywhere."

Cohan assured the resident that the area surrounding Stay Bridge Suites and the possible Marriott Courtyard will surely be maintained and that the appearance of the landscaping is of high importance to Columbia Hospitality.

Other residents questioned environmental issues surrounding the area, including how well nearby sewer systems could handle a new hotel.

Airport Commission Chairman Frank Nocerino noted that all plans to construct any hotel on airport property are preliminary, and that before Columbia Hospitality can go forth with any plans they would need to follow all standard procedures of the town, including looking into environmental and safety issues.