UPDATED, 6:00 p.m., Oct. 22: The Queens hotel boom continues unabated.
Jamaica, Queens-based developer Kaushik Patel filed plans Thursday for a three-hotel complex in the neighborhood spanning more than 166,000 square feet, according to a permit application submitted with the Department of Buildings.
The blockwide site consists of three parcels, bound by 146th and Waltham streets and 101st Avenue, which currently hold a vacant lot and a small warehouse. The development will house a total of 398 rooms, according to the filing, with three different hotel chains operating at the site.
One lot at 145-01 101st Avenue will hold 142 rooms, while the two other lots at 97-46 146th Street and 97-34 Sutphin Boulevard are expected to house 108 rooms and 148 rooms, respectively. The latter two parcels will also house an unspecified community facility on their first through third floors spanning more than 30,000 square feet.
Patel confirmed the plans and identified the three separate hotel flags involved in the project — with a Country Inns & Suites, a La Quinta Inns & Suites and a Wyndham Garden set to go up at the site. He added that the community facility could potentially house a “medical center.”
An LLC entity affiliated with Patel acquired the properties for $4.3 million in November 2014 before transferring the deed to the developer’s Vision Asset Group in April. Patel has built several hotels in Queens, including the 64-key Ramada Jamaica/Queens at 164-40 Hillside Avenue.
He is also behind several Long Island City hotel developments: a Ramada at 38-30 Crescent Street, a Country Inn & Suites at 40-34 Crescent Street and a new hotel project at 10-20 37th Avenue.
Borough Park-based SM Tam Architect, the project’s architect of record, did not return requests for comment.
Though McSam Hotel Group head Sam Chang this week dropped plans for a 400-key hotel and condominium project in Flushing, the borough remains a hot target for hoteliers, with about 50 projects currently in development throughout Queens.
The Jamaica area, in particular, appeals to hotel developers largely due to its proximity to John F. Kennedy International Airport.