A rough concept drawing of a resort hotel entertainment area proposed by Malay and Himansu Patel, Managing Directors of Town Spirits Inc., on Middlesex Road in Tyngsboro. (Courtesy City of Tyngsboro)
TYNGSBORO — In the not too distant future, the city could be home to a multimillion-dollar, 60-room hotel and amusement park resort on 11.5 acres on Middlesex Road, behind the new Best Friends Pet Hotel.
While still in the concept development phase, the project received the green light from the Select Board on Monday, when it granted the company an alcohol-only permit.
Attorney Peter Nicosia introduced the proposal on behalf of his clients Malay and Himansu Patel, who are the directors of Town Spirits Inc. The Patels run Kastore Restaurant in North Chelmsford and have other experience selling alcohol, Nicosia told the Select Board.
“The resort would be like the Great Wolf Lodge (in Fitchburg) or the Red Jacket Inn (in North Conway, NH) without the water park,” Nicosia said. Instead, the Tyngsboro Resort would feature a large entertainment complex modeled after Apex Entertainment in Marlboro.
Nicosia said the hotel and amusement park would be a destination resort that would draw people to Tyngsboro for its amenities. This would make the still nameless hotel the second holiday destination in the city. The Chateau Merrimack on the Pawtucket Boulevard side of the river opened last year with the intention of being a vacation resort.
The Patels aim to work with the city at every stage of the process. “We want it to be a real public-private partnership,” Nicosia said.
Nicosia acknowledged that it submitted the proposal to the select committee at a very early stage in the process. He said the Patels need the license when dealing with national hotel chains to come to Tyngsboro.
He acted on the view shared by board members that Tyngsboro has only one such license.
Board member Katarina Kalabokis expressed reservations about granting the license so early. She feared another business might come forward that could open quickly if a license were available.
City Administrator Matt Hanson explained that the city actually has more liquor licenses under its control. Some of the licenses are restricted to the city center, however an additional unrestricted license is available.
The Select Board’s new chair, Eric Eldridge, said he would support the granting of the license but called for “a roadmap for acquiring further licenses”.
