Plans call for a seven-story, 120-room hotel to be built on a vacant lot in downtown Niagara Falls, perhaps assisted by tax breaks from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.

In an estimated $17.8 million project, the Strangio family, owners of Plati Niagara Inc., also plans to erect three two-unit, two-story apartment buildings on the 1.5-acre lot at 311 Rainbow Blvd.

The new hotel would be the region's first Cambria Hotel, a Choice Hotels brand. The site is located next to Plati's 110-room Wingate by Wyndham at 333 Rainbow Blvd., a $10.2 million hotel that opened in April 2015.

"Cambria is upscale and Wingate is upper mid-scale," said Frank Strangio, one-third owner of the company with his father, Antonio, and his brother Anthony.

But he said in Niagara Falls, it's location that counts, and the new hotel would be located within walking distance of Niagara Falls State Park.

The Strangio family also operates the Quality Inn at 7708 Niagara Falls Blvd.

"We've been with Choice Hotels for 30 years at the Quality Inn," Frank Strangio said.