Babylon, once a resort town, could get its first new hotel in decades

A limited liability company called Babylon Village Hotel Partners has submitted a preliminary application to the village for a development called Babylon Courtyard that would include 30 apartments, retail space, a large courtyard and a 70-room hotel, Newsday reported. The developers hope to erect the three-building complex on a little more than one-acre parcel in Babylon at 16 George Street that currently holds a bus depot. The three-story building would also surround a 12,000-square-foot courtyard for which the project would be named. The development company’s principals — Ross Cassata of the Amityville-based Cassata Organization, Chartwell Hotels CEO George Tsunis and Long Island construction magnate Roberto Nicolia (who pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges after Newsday published its story) — are in talks with the Babylon Industrial Development Agency about potential tax breaks for the project, their Melville-based lawyer Joseph French told Newsday. The developers have been holding meetings with locals and already altered some of their plans to accommodate some of the feedback they got from those conversations, Buzzell said. Newsday noted that Babylon was once a resort town, but hasn’t had a hotel in more than 30 years. [Newsday]