Business News

Plans for Marriott in Lynbrook inch forward

Officials hoping for a ‘domino effect’ of new businesses

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The Lynbrook village board plans to hold a public hearing this fall at which it will make a final decision on the construction of a Courtyard by Marriott hotel that was first proposed in 2004, though officials said they have already OK’d a tentative lease agreement for the land with the developer.

“As far as the project itself, the board wants to look at the last proposal,” said Mayor Bill Hendrick. “We’ve already voted on the [terms of the] lease — and the whole board said yes — but there’s more to go. So we’re going to look at the last hearing and then make a decision.”

Browning Hotel Properties LLC, of Riverhead, first approached the board with the proposal 12 years ago. Developer Lee Browning said that the primary obstacle has been finding the right location. The current plans call for a six-story hotel to be built at the corner of Langdon and Lyon places, on property currently occupied by a municipal parking lot.

The $25 million hotel would sit atop a self-contained parking structure with 306 parking spaces, which would be divided between the hotel and the village. 

A traffic study of the area is due to be undertaken at the end of the summer, and the findings would be presented at a public hearing on the project.

Hendrick said that officials believe a Courtyard Marriott would draw travelers and businesspeople to the area, and that the hotel would be “well occupied” due to the chain’s reputation for luxury accommodations. “This is not going to be a low-cost hotel,” he said. “People’s eyebrows will go up when they hear Marriott.”

A history of hotel proposals

In 2005, Browning informally proposed a larger development for Lynbrook that included a Marriott, a Hilton Homewood Suites and three parking facilities in the downtown area. That plan was quickly scaled back to include only the Marriott and one parking structure on Earle Avenue — before being withdrawn in 2006 due to negative community reaction. Browning also proposed building a hotel at the site of the former Mangrove Feather factory, across the street from the new proposed location, but a deal could not be worked out.

“I think with any project like this — I myself would consider the middle of town the best way to do things,” Hendrick said.

He also noted that if the hotel were successful, it could entice more developers to offer proposals for the Mangrove Feather building, creating a “domino effect” of development.

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