Albany

In a move that could help attract NCAA playoffs and make a scaled-down convention center more viable, Columbia Development Companies on Monday announced plans for a $48.5 million renovation of the former DeWitt Clinton Hotel.

The project, expected to be completed sometime in 2015, would include a 200-car parking garage on vacant land behind both the hotel and the neighboring Wellington Row, a line of historic buildings that Columbia also is rehabilitating.

With 204 rooms, it also would give downtown Albany additional capacity for such large events as NCAA basketball playoffs and larger conferences and meetings.

The newly renovated 385-room Hilton Albany was unveiled in May.

"It will help us with our NCAA bids," said Bob Belber, general manager of Times Union Center. Monday's announcement came just over a month before bids for dozens of tournaments stretching through 2018 are due.

When the NCAA was last in town, it said Albany would need a second full-service hotel close to the arena to attract future tournaments.

The hotel also would be adjacent to the scaled-down convention center that was proposed late last month.

With funding already in hand for that project, construction could move quickly once officials decide to proceed.

The Renaissance by Marriott brand often occupies historic, iconic buildings. In Albany, it will fill the former DeWitt Clinton hotel, a 15-story building that opened in 1928 and closed in 1975.

Columbia has long sought to acquire the building from Bronx-based diamond merchant Chaim Ausch.

"Don Led Duke started this negotiation five years ago," said Joseph Nicolla, Columbia's president, referring to the founder of BBL Construction, who died in 2010. "It was a long, protracted negotiation."

The deal is expected to close in the next eight weeks.

Work is expected to begin in early fall on the new Renaissance Hotel Albany, as it will be called, with construction to be completed in 2015, Nicolla said.

The $48.5 million price tag includes the acquisition price as well as construction. Empire State Development is providing a $4 million grant through its Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund.

Construction work will create 100 temporary jobs, while the hotel will have 100 employees, said Steve Obermayer, president of BBL Hospitality, which will operate the upscale hotel.

The president and CEO of the Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Michele Vennard, welcomed Monday's announcement.

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"Upstate New York is lacking in five-star properties," she said.

"The new hotel will be a great asset in attracting visitors and new investment to the Capital Region," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a prepared statement, "especially as the state works to increase tourism and bring new business to upstate New York."

"Historic downtowns of upstate cities are on the march," said Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Kenneth Adams.

After the DeWitt Clinton ceased operations as a hotel, the building was used for senior housing, but was emptied out in 2006 when efforts were first made to convert it back into a hotel.

A banquet facility, The State Room, continues to operate in the DeWitt Clinton's former ballroom.

The Renaissance brand is a bit more upscale than the limited-service hotels that have been opening throughout the region.

Fewer than 160 Renaissance hotels exist worldwide, and while there's one in Rochester, most are found in larger cities, including Boston, New York City, Paris and London.

Mayor Jerry Jennings, who also spoke at Monday's announcement, recalled that he once worked as a bellhop at the old DeWitt Clinton, on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift.

With the mayor retiring at the end of his current term, Obermayer suggested the Renaissance might find room for him.

When the hotel opens, he said, "there's going to be at least one bellhop job" available.

eanderson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5323