Langton Green project a step closer to reality with land expropriation

A high-end hotel first proposed for downtown St. John’s more than three years ago is a step closer to reality for a pair of developers. The last piece of the land puzzle for St. John’s based Langton Green Development and Halifax based Pacrim Hospitality Services will be completed once the city expropriates 19 Henry St.

The partners plan a four-storey, four-star Hilton Embassy Suites Hotel for the corner of Duckworth and Bell streets. “We believe that that’s the right product for St. John’s,” said Glenn Squires, CEO of Pacrim.

The partners envision 175 suites, two levels of underground parking, a restaurant and possibly a street-front pub for the estimated $30-35 million dollar development. But it all depends on getting final approvals from the city. Squires says acquiring all the land is a key element in moving forward, because the hotel has to be a certain size to be economically viable. “We think now, with the expropriation, we should be close on that.”

On Monday, St. John’s city councilors voted to issue an expropriation notice to Brendan Murphy, the owner of the Henry Street lot. “Assuming that we’re successful … it would probably take us from those approvals about three or four months to get the engineering work and the necessary stuff done,” said Squires.

“Hopefully, we would start around the middle of the year, if everything lines up the way we would like them to.” He estimates construction would take 18 to 20 months.

Sandra Case, president of Langton Green, says the company usually goes about its business quietly. “This seems to be one that has caught a lot of attention. Case isn’t worried about competing hotel projects also proposed for downtown St. John’s. “We feel there’s a lot of business for everybody that’s looking at these projects,”

And she figures the partners’ plan for about 100 parking spaces adds an appealing dimension to the Hilton Embassy Suites project. “We feel that there’s such a demand for additional parking in the downtown core that it will be a great complement to the area.”

Case has about 18 years experience both in the hotel industry and with a California brand-loyalty marketing-company specializing in luxury hotels. She returned to Newfoundland about five years ago and partnered with her father, Bill Case.

Langton Green has, in turn, partnered with Pacrim in assembling land for a recently built Super 8 Motel in St. John’s. Case says the average hotel stays in St. John’s are longer than elsewhere, partly because the city is located on an island.

“A suite would suit a longer stay more so than the average hotel rooms.” The average stay is about four to six nights. “People are realizing what a great place this is and our site is an excellent location. “It’s one of the last remaining vacant sites and it’s currently under-used in thriving downtown St. John’s. “We want to add to the gentrification of the downtown area with this project.”

Pacrim manages and/or owns about 60 hotels in Canada and the U.S. Among them: 20 hotels in Atlantic Canada, including the Radisson in Halifax; a variety of Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza hotels; and Gander River Outfitters.

Excerpt from The Telegram, Friday, January 18, 2008 by Moira Baird.