To the Editor:

Throughout my whole life, I’ve resided in Guilderland, I’ve attended school in Guilderland, and I’ve been an active consumer of the goods and services available to Guilderland. I’m writing in support of the proposed development of a hotel along Western Avenue. The installation of such a facility would help validate and encourage further expansion of local businesses and attractions.

Visitors’ options within this locale are slim to none for where to stay while in town, with the nearest quality hotel being located miles away. However, this void could potentially be filled with the newly proposed project.

Crossgates Mall collects the ZIP codes of its users among other information as they log on to the wifi network at the mall, and the data gathered through this process helps determine where mall-goers have originated from. The frequency with which people have traveled from across the country to end up right here in Guilderland can be seen in this data, but a hotel right next door would incentivize an even larger population of visitors that live across the country.

James Soos, of Pyramid Management, the owners of the property on which the hotel would be built, predicts that “the hotel will allow our customers to come from a greater distance, and stay longer.” These visitors would be able to enjoy local features such as Crossgates, Stuyvesant Plaza, the globally rare ecosystem of the Pine Bush Preserve, and every other business and organization that calls Guilderland home.

Our local economy would experience short- and long-term boosts, with money flowing in from hotel residents as well as dozens of jobs being created and kept in the process of building, maintaining, and staffing the 200-unit hotel. The local infrastructure of our town would also be influenced positively through this venture.

According to the consulting firm Maser, the Capital District Transportation Authority is already planning to create a new express bus line between downtown Albany and a brand-new transit center at Crossgates, currently being planned by the CDTA. In addition, the pedestrian- and bike-friendly walkways planned as part of the connection between the hotel and Crossgates will spur further expansion of our town’s foot pathways and bike access.

Town Supervisor Peter Barber maintains that making our town “more easily walkable and bikeable is a priority,” and the hotel’s comprehensive transportation options are the first step.

Allowing Pyramid Management to construct this hotel will bring new life to Guilderland, and in many ways its development will benefit our town.

Ryan Dempsey

Guilderland