Premiere Executive Suites aims to be first off the mark.

A Halifax-based company has another idea to develop the almost empty lot on the corner of Water Street and Harbour Drive - a five-storey, extended-stay hotel with 150 rooms and underground parking. It's the latest hotel proposed for downtown St. John's.

And Premiere Executive Suites expects to formally submit its development plan to City Hall by the end of the month. "We think it'll be a unique design," said Gordon Laing, vice-president of Premiere Executive Suites. "We'll typically spend a little extra money on construction to make sure that something fits into the streetscape, and that's what our plan is here as well."

Laing says the proposed hotel would be four storeys along Water Street, but would gain an extra storey on the lower Harbour Drive side. City regulations restrict new buidlings in the downtown area to a height of 15 metres, or about four storeys.

"We're obviously going to be working with the city to try and get it in a format that will work for us from an economic point of view and also fit in with the city requirements," he said. "That's where the discussion is going back and forth right now."

As for the underground vaults circa 1860 that remain on the property, Laing says the company will follow the city's requirements. "We'll either incorporate it, if that's the requirement," Laing said. "But at the very least we'll incorporate the material.... whether it's part of a restaurant or part of the lobby, that type of thing, we're going to incorporate that into the hotel design. "Our architect feels confident that they can incorporate that look into the design of the hotel as well."

Laing also envisions indoor parking for hotel guests. "Right now, the plan is for two levels of underground parking." He figures the final design of the new hotel building is about three-quarters complete and will soon be submitted to the city.

"Around the end of the month is kind of our target." Laing says this is the company's first attempt to develop land at the corner of Water Street and Harbour Drive. But it's not the first attempt for Premiere's majority stakeholder, Southwest Properties.

Two years ago, Southwest was partnered with Harbourview Developments, a venture that included lawyer Tom Williams and businessman Ken Marshall, in a bid to build a nine-storey, high-end residential building on the same lot. That proposal was later withdrawn.

Southwest also owns the remodelled Atlantic Place in downtown St. John's and has also submitted plans to redevelop the old Newfoundland Telephone building on Duckworth Street into extended-stay hotel suites.

Laing isn't worried about the possibility of downtown St. John's becoming saturated with hotels - all aiming to take advantage of increased offshore oil activity.

"You always pay attention to that, that's for sure. "As long as they're in the planning stages we don't worry about it, so it's kind of important to be in the first few that are built. "But most of the research that we've done so far would say, at this point, that there's still an under-supply of hotel rooms in St. John's, and as the economy continues to cook along that there will be a need for more."

Excerpt from The Telegram, January 14, 2008 by Moira Baird