âIt definitely can be done,â said Rob McCarthy, founder of the Melan Hotel Group.
McCarthyâs assessment was warmly received by the Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority, which hired him in March to evaluate the cityâs potential to support a small hotel.
Berlin Community Development Director Pamela Laflamme reviewed McCarthyâs report with BIDPA at its monthly meeting last week.
Armed with McCarthyâs assessment, BIDPA voted to hire him to continue working on the effort for the next three months. By the end of that period, the schedule calls for him to have finalized a group of stakeholders willing to invest in the project, agreed on a site for the hotel, and decided whether it will be an independent or brand hotel. McCarthy will be paid $5,000 a month as he moves through the various goals for a total of $15,000.
City Manager James Wheeler estimated the average residential customer would pay about $10 more per year.
Wheeler had recommended a rate of $9.07 for an increase of 4.7 percent from the current rate of $8.66. To achieve that rate, he recommended using $1.15 million from the sewer user fund balance, leaving $3.8 million in that account. Wheeler said the average sewer bill is still below the state average. He said small increases avoid draining the fund balance, allowing the city to be able to keep the rate down.
The council split on the sewer rate.
Councilor Russell Otis argued for following Wheelerâs recommendation, pointing out it would cost the average residential customer about $20 for the year.
NH Business Review
Melan Group asked to study market demand
March 17, 2021
Berlin officials see the Beat Western being built in Rumford, Maine, as a model for a hotel in their city.
Officials in Berlin, not giving up on efforts to attract a small hotel to the city, have hired the management firm currently overseeing development of a Best Western Hotel in Rumford, Maine, to be their consultant.
The Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority has hired Rob McCarthy of Bedford, founder of consisting and hotel management firm Melan Hotel Group, to evaluate the city’s potential to support a 60-bed hotel.
BERLIN — City officials have not given up on efforts to attract a small hotel to Berlin and have hired as a consultant the head of the management firm currently
NH Business Review
TIF district eyed near Jericho Mountain State Park
February 17, 2021
The city of Berlin is continuing to work on economic development efforts that it hopes will attract new investors to Berlin.
According to The Berlin Sun, the Berlin Industrial Development and Park Authority has hired a consultant, ADG Solutions of Concord, to look at creating a tax increment financing district centered on the Route 110 area near Jericho Mountain State Park. And it is looking at incentives that will make it financially viable to attract a small hotel to be located in the city.
A TIF district allows for the financing of public improvements within a defined district using new tax revenues generated by new construction or expansion of businesses. In the case of Route 110, some property owners have expressed a desire to take advantage of the interest in ATV riding created by the park to build and operate new commercial businesses in that area.