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Diamond Properties details revised proposal
In an effort to get approval for its proposed hotel in downtown Herndon, Diamond Properties has reduced the size and height of the facility.
The company presented its revised plans in a public meeting Thursday. Its first draft of the building design received a somewhat hostile reaction from the Herndon Heritage Preservation Review Board in December, but the HPRB has since recommended zoning approval for the hotel, according to Herndon Public Information Officer Anne Curtis.
The five-story “Element” extended-stay hotel by Starwood would be built at the intersection of Monroe and Elden streets, and would be the first such facility in this region.
The building, with its accompanying 14,000 square feet of retail space, is topographically situated on one of the highest points in Herndon and is in one of the town's Heritage Districts.
An initial rezoning component of the proposal has received a letter of recommendation from the HPRB, but the overall project still needs approval from the Herndon Planning Commission and Town Council before returning to the HPRB for final design approval.
The project has undergone several revisions to the building's height, facade and overall visual impact.
Most notably, in an effort to preserve a line of sight into the downtown from the hilltop intersection, the hotel has superseded the required 12-foot setbacks from the curb, allowing wider sidewalks as an additional benefit. It has also removed 16 rooms from its original proposal, reducing the total number from 179 to 163, which keeps the Elden Street side of the building to four floors, at a height of 40 feet.
At Thursday's presentation, hotel representatives attempted to further appeal to Herndon's environmentalist contingency.
Chip Ohlsson, vice president of development at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, told those assembled that “green, socially responsible construction” is one of Starwood's core business values.
Ohlsson accentuated this point by saying that the hotel would have large windows allowing natural lighting, and that the hotel's roof would be made of a highly reflective material, allowing the hotel's heating and cooling system to conserve energy.
“We believe in a thoughtful, upscale environment and interaction with the community,” he said.
Ohlsson also stressed the hotel's public benefits. He said that wireless Internet would be available to the public in the hotel's lobby and that a walk-through corridor would allow easy access to the complex's proposed retail shops.
Attorney Mark Looney, of Cooley, Godward and Kronish LLP, called the project “something that the community can be proud of” and referenced an economic impact analysis, saying that $95 per hotel room per year would be paid to the town in taxes.
“That's $1.5 million over 20 years paid into the Town's economic base,” he told the assembled audience.
Vice Mayor Dennis Husch, who originally said that a five-story building on the highest point in the downtown was “simply too much,” is now awaiting the revised proposal.
“Contrary to the comments from the Diamond Properties’ spokesman, the Town Council has not yet seen their proposal,” he told The Times in an e-mail. “I will withhold judgment on the project until I have a chance to study it and hear from citizens who do not have a direct or indirect financial interest in the project.”
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