The Select Board has referred Delamar’s proposed hotel in Swampscott to the Planning Board, where Director of Business Development Dixon Mallory and his team will begin the permit application process.

The Delamar Hotel is set to be at the former Hadley Elementary School location, at 24 Redington St. Built in 1910, the Hadley School closed when the town consolidated its elementary schools last year. In 2023, Pinnacle Advisory Group conducted a comprehensive market-demand study for the proposed hotel, finding the site “suitable for hotel development” with “good walkable amenities such as restaurants, bars and other retail.”

In 2024, the Select Board voted to enter into a land development agreement (LDA) with Delamar Hotels to design and develop the boutique hotel.

Plans for the 57-room boutique hotel include a two-level restaurant with a speakeasy and private dining rooms, a spa, a ballroom and a seasonal rooftop deck overlooking Linscott Park, while preserving much of the building’s historic character.

The restored building will feature an outdoor dining terrace overlooking Linscott Park with views of the water, a restaurant and spa open to the public, and a ballroom in the former gymnasium that can accommodate about 120 guests. There will be just one elevator, serving as both a service and passenger elevator. 

Inside, the historic mezzanine seating will remain, potentially hosting “stand-up comedians, lecture series, jazz shows,” while the rooftop will serve as a “seasonal open rooftop amenity deck, rented out for parties or a hotel guest amenity space in the warmer months,” Mallory previously said.

“It looks beautiful,” said Select Board Vice Chair Danielle Leonard.

The parking lot, which will be used at no cost, will include a number of electrical vehicle parking spots. 

Parking has become one of the primary concerns raised by abutters. Resident John Giantis raised those concerns during the Select Board’s public comment period.

“We’ve raised concern, as direct abutters to the school, that parking, as it’s been configured, as people leave the parking lot, their headlights would shine directly onto our house, into the living room, into the upper bedrooms,” Giantis said. “We have voiced concerns going back well over a year and a half on this.”

Giantis said the proposed solution for the entrance to the parking lot to become one-way still potentially raises concerns around people circling around the parking lot.

“Our understanding is that the lot across from us will have 62 spaces,” Giantis said. “The project contemplates 167 total to take care of guests, employees, people visiting the restaurant. Our question is what’s being done to address that parking. We aren’t the only ones who’ve brought up those concerns. What we’ve heard is there are some maybe solutions with the church, maybe solutions with the Archdiocese, but that was it.”

Mallory said Tuesday that his team incorporated residents’ feedback when revising the site plan.

“We originally had the entrance of the property…down near Humphrey Street. Cars would enter the property there and circle up to the front of what’s going to be the main entrance of the hotel, and they would continue on past the annex and then exit down here, facing Blaney Street. There was some real concerns with those neighbors on Blaney Street, that there would be a lot of light pollution, which is completely understandable,” Mallory said. “We’ve taken that into consideration, so what we’ve done – and actually this improves the flow of the circulation on the site anyway – we’ve essentially flipped the flow of traffic. If you’re coming from Humphrey Street, you’ll come up Redington and you’ll turn into the property up by what is now the playground and the ball field.”

Mallory said the property will use pole and bollard lighting, with no upward-facing lights. He noted “we’re very open to how this all gets screened” with a fence or plants. Select Board Member Ted Dooley advocated for greenery when possible.

He added that the hotel will offer valet parking, meaning any off-site parking arrangements would be managed by valet staff, similar to Delamar’s operations at one of its Connecticut hotels.

“It’s already a tight neighborhood so we’re watching this for the light pollution, the noise pollution, parking, all of this impacts us,” Giantis said.

According to Community and Economic Development Director Marzie Galazka, Mallory and his team will appear before the Planning Board once they submit building permit applications and finalize project details, including elevations, cross sections and traffic plans. The deadline for securing all permits and financing is February 2027, when the Select Board is expected to execute the lease agreement with the developer.

Construction will take about 24 months, according to Galazka. 

“If everything goes well, the hotel should be open by November of 2029, or at least that is what we had established in the LDA,” Galazka said. 

Mallory said he is not positive when his team will be ready to go in front of the Planning Board. There are weekly meetings set, however, between Galazka, Town Administrator Nick Connors and Mallory.

“We’re working on it,” Mallory said, adding that Galazka’s timeline is in accordance with Delamar’s plans. 

Dooley suggested Mallory gives himself “enough runway” to ensure he receives “approval in time for final feedback from this board.”

Dooley noted that while the Select Board oversees the property as its owner, the Planning Board has authority over the site’s plan review and special permits under the town’s zoning bylaws. The Planning Board will “have a very similar conversation to what we’re going to have in requirements that they may have with the applicant to do with screening.”