HANOVER TWP., Lehigh County, Pa. — Developers behind a hotel planned for Lehigh Valley International Airport received Airport Authority authorization Tuesday to finance the project.
The nonprofit developer tapped for the project, Provident Resources Group, already has lined up financing, authority Business Development Director Darren Betters said.
But it needed a resolution from the airport authority giving it explicit permission to secure funding for the project.
The authority’s board of governors voted unanimously Tuesday to oblige.
“Now they know exactly the dollars they're going to need to construct it based on any edits or changes… to the project as we went through approvals processes.”Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority Executive Director Tom Stoudt
Plans submitted in February to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission call for a 26,000-square-foot, 173-room Courtyard by Marriott at 3311 Airport Road, built in two phases.
Late last year, Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Planning Commission unanimously recommended special exception approval for the hotel.
The township Zoning Hearing Board voted April 3 to grant approval.
“Now that [Provident has] all of the approvals from the township, they can begin to secure funding because the project has been very well identified,” said authority Executive Director Tom Stoudt.
“Now they know exactly the dollars they're going to need to construct it based on any edits or changes… to the project as we went through approvals processes.”
Hotel to open in 2026
The hotel project is running “a little bit” behind schedule, Betters said, but remains on track to break ground in late August or in September.
If work proceeds as planned, the hotel would open to customers in 2026, Stoudt said.
To comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules, the airport authority is employing a complicated system whereby Provident Resources Group will own the hotel and lease from the airport the ground on which it sits.
Once the project is paid off — current projections cited by members of the board say it will take about 40 years — ownership of the hotel reverts to the airport authority.
Staff writer Phil Gianficaro contributed to this report.
